View source for History of science

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{{Redirect|New science|the treatise about history|The New Science{{!}}''The New Science''}}
{{for-multi|approaches to the study of history of science|Historiography of science|the academic field that comprises science and its corresponding technological advances|History of science and technology|the academic journal|History of Science (journal){{!}}''History of Science'' (journal)}}
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{{Science|expanded=Overview}}

The '''history of science''' covers the development of [[science]] from [[ancient history|ancient times]] to the [[present]]. It encompasses all three major [[branches of science]]: [[natural science|natural]], [[social science|social]], and [[formal science|formal]].<ref name = "cohen2021">{{cite book | last = Cohen | first = Eliel | year = 2021 | chapter = The boundary lens: theorising academic activity | title = The University and its Boundaries |edition=1st | url = https://www.routledge.com/The-University-and-its-Boundaries-Thriving-or-Surviving-in-the-21st-Century/Cohen/p/book/9780367562984 | pages = 14–41 | publisher = Routledge | location = New York, New York | isbn = 978-0367562984 | access-date = 8 June 2021 | archive-date = 5 May 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210505045450/https://www.routledge.com/The-University-and-its-Boundaries-Thriving-or-Surviving-in-the-21st-Century/Cohen/p/book/9780367562984 | url-status = live }}</ref> [[Protoscience]], [[Science in the ancient world|early sciences]], and natural philosophies such as [[alchemy]] and [[astrology]] that existed during the [[Bronze Age]], [[Iron Age]], [[classical antiquity]] and the [[Middle Ages]], declined during the [[early modern period]] after the establishment of formal disciplines of [[science in the Age of Enlightenment]].

The earliest roots of scientific thinking and practice can be traced to [[Ancient Egypt]] and [[Mesopotamia]] during the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE.<ref name= "lindberg2007a" >{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = Science before the Greeks | title= The Beginnings of Western Science| pages = 1–20 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref><ref name= "Grant2007a">{{cite book | last= Grant| first= Edward | year = 2007 | chapter = Ancient Egypt to Plato | title= A History of Natural Philosophy | url= https://archive.org/details/historynaturalph00gran| url-access= limited| pages = [https://archive.org/details/historynaturalph00gran/page/n16 1]–26| location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-052-1-68957-1}}</ref> These civilizations' contributions to [[mathematics]], [[astronomy]], and [[medicine]] influenced later Greek [[natural philosophy]] of [[Science in classical antiquity|classical antiquity]], wherein formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the [[Universe|physical world]] based on natural causes.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/><ref name= "Grant2007a"/> After the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]], knowledge of [[Science in ancient Greece|Greek conceptions of the world]] deteriorated in Latin-speaking [[Western Europe]] during the early centuries (400 to 1000 CE) of [[European science in the Middle Ages|the Middle Ages]],<ref name= "lindberg2007i">{{cite book | last = Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = The revival of learning in the West | title=The Beginnings of Western Science| pages = 193–224 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn=978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref> but continued to thrive in the [[Greek language|Greek]]-speaking [[Byzantine Empire]]. Aided by translations of Greek texts, the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] worldview was preserved and absorbed into the [[Arabic]]-speaking [[Muslim world]] during the [[Islamic Golden Age]].<ref name= "lindberg2007h">{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = Islamic science | title= The Beginnings of Western Science| pages = 163–92 | edition = Second | location = Chicago| publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn=978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref> The recovery and assimilation of [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek works]] and [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|Islamic inquiries]] into Western Europe from the 10th to 13th century revived the learning of natural philosophy in the West.<ref name= "lindberg2007i"/><ref name= "lindberg2007j" >{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = The recovery and assimilation of Greek and Islamic science | title= The Beginnings of Western Science| pages= 225–253| edition = 2nd | location = Chicago| publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref> Traditions of early science were also developed in [[History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent|ancient India]] and separately in [[ancient China]], the [[History of science and technology in China|Chinese model]] having influenced [[Science and technology in Vietnam|Vietnam]], [[History of science and technology in Korea|Korea]] and [[History of science and technology in Japan|Japan]] before [[Age of Sail|Western exploration]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shigeru |first=Nakayama |date=1995 |title=History of East Asian Science: Needs and Opportunities |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/301914 |journal=Osiris |access-date=10 February 2024 |pages=80–94 |volume=10 |doi=10.1086/368744 |jstor=301914 |s2cid=224789083 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Among the [[Pre-Columbian]] peoples of [[Mesoamerica]], the [[Zapotec civilization]] established their first known traditions of astronomy and mathematics for [[Mesoamerican calendars|producing calendars]], followed by other civilizations such as the [[Maya civilization|Maya]].

Natural philosophy was transformed by the [[Scientific Revolution]] that transpired during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Küskü |first=Elif Aslan |date=2022 |title=Examination of Scientific Revolution Medicine on the Human Body / Bilimsel Devrim Tıbbını İnsan Bedeni Üzerinden İncelemek |url=https://www.academia.edu/87500649 |journal=The Legends: Journal of European History Studies |access-date=28 September 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112202215/https://www.academia.edu/87500649 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hendrix |first=Scott E. |title=Natural Philosophy or Science in Premodern Epistemic Regimes? The Case of the Astrology of Albert the Great and Galileo Galilei |journal=Teorie Vědy / Theory of Science |year=2011 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=111–132 |doi=10.46938/tv.2011.72 |s2cid=258069710 |url=http://teorievedy.flu.cas.cz/index.php/tv/issue/view/10 |access-date=20 February 2012 |archive-date=18 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118024030/http://teorievedy.flu.cas.cz/index.php/tv/issue/view/10 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name= "Principe2011">{{cite book | last= Principe | first= Lawrence M. | year = 2011 | chapter = Introduction | title = Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction | pages = 1–3 | location = New York| publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn= 978-0-199-56741-6}}</ref> as [[Scientific Revolution#New ideas|new ideas and discoveries]] departed from [[Scientific Revolution#Ancient and medieval background|previous Greek conceptions]] and traditions.<ref name= "Lindberg1990">{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 1990 | chapter = Conceptions of the Scientific Revolution from Baker to Butterfield: A preliminary sketch | title=Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution | editor-first1 = David C. | editor-last1 = Lindberg | editor-first2 = Robert S. | editor-last2 = Westman | pages = 1–26 | edition = First | location = Chicago | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-0-521-34262-9}}</ref><ref name= "lindberg2007n">{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = The legacy of ancient and medieval science | title= The Beginnings of Western Science| pages= 357–368| edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref><ref name= "Stanford Encyclopedia">{{Cite book|url= https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/natphil-ren/|title= The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|last= Del Soldato|first= Eva|date= 2016|publisher= Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|editor-last= Zalta|editor-first= Edward N.|edition= Fall 2016|access-date= 1 June 2018|archive-date= 11 December 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191211205744/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/natphil-ren/|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name= Grant2007c>{{cite book | last= Grant | first = Edward | year = 2007 | chapter = Transformation of medieval natural philosophy from the early period modern period to the end of the nineteenth century | title= A History of Natural Philosophy | url= https://archive.org/details/historynaturalph00gran | url-access= limited | pages = [https://archive.org/details/historynaturalph00gran/page/n289 274]–322 | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-052-1-68957-1}}</ref> The New Science that emerged was more [[Mechanical philosophy|mechanistic]] in its worldview, more integrated with mathematics, and more reliable and open as its knowledge was based on a newly defined [[scientific method]].<ref name= "lindberg2007n"/><ref name= "gal2021i">{{cite book | last= Gal | first = Ofer | year = 2021 | chapter = The New Science | title = The Origins of Modern Science | pages = 308–349 | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-1316649701}}</ref><ref name= "bowlermorus2020b">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = The scientific revolution | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 25–57 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref> More "revolutions" in subsequent centuries soon followed. The [[chemical revolution]] of the 18th century, for instance, introduced new quantitative methods and measurements for [[chemistry]].<ref name= "bowlermorus2020c">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = The chemical revolution | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 58–82 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref> In the [[19th century in science|19th century]], new perspectives regarding the [[conservation of energy]], [[age of Earth]], and [[evolution]] came into focus.<ref name= "bowlermorus2020d">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = The conservation of energy | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 83–107 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref><ref name= "bowlermorus2020e">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = The age of the earth | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 108–133 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref><ref name= "bowlermorus2020f">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = The Darwinian revolution | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 134–171 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref><ref name= "Cahan Natural Philosophy">{{cite book | editor1-last= Cahan | editor1-first= David | title= From Natural Philosophy to the Sciences: Writing the History of Nineteenth-Century Science | date= 2003 | publisher= University of Chicago Press | location= Chicago |isbn= 978-0-226-08928-7}}</ref><ref>The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' dates the origin of the word "scientist" to 1834.</ref><ref name= "Lightman 19th">{{cite book|last1= Lightman|first1= Bernard|editor1-last= Shank|editor1-first= Michael|editor2-last= Numbers|editor2-first= Ronald|editor3-last= Harrison|editor3-first= Peter|title= Wrestling with Nature |date= 2011|publisher= University of Chicago Press|location= Chicago|isbn= 978-0-226-31783-0|page= 367|chapter=Science and the Public}}</ref> And in the 20th century, new discoveries in [[genetics]] and [[physics]] laid the foundations for new sub disciplines such as [[molecular biology]] and [[particle physics]].<ref name= "bowlermorus2020h">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = Genetics | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 197–221 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref><ref name= "bowlermorus2020k">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = Twentieth-century physics | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 262–285 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref> Moreover, industrial and military concerns as well as the increasing complexity of new research endeavors ushered in the era of "[[big science]]," particularly after [[World War II]].<ref name= "bowlermorus2020h"/><ref name= "bowlermorus2020k"/><ref name= "bowlermorus2020a">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = Introduction: Science, society, and history | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 1–24 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref>

== Approaches to history of science ==
{{Main|Historiography of science}}
{{further|Historiography}}
The nature of the history of science - including both the definition of science and whether [[Historiography of science#Terminology|the English word "science" is a misleading term for pre-modern scholarship]] - is a topic of ongoing debate. The history of science is often seen as a linear story of progress,<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = von Wright
 |first1               = Georg Henrik
 |author-link1         = Georg Henrik von Wright
 |editor-last1         = Burgen
 |editor-first1        = Arnold
 |editor-last2         = McLaughlin
 |editor-first2        = Peter
 |editor-last3         = Mittelstraß
 |editor-first3        = Jürgen
 |editor-link3         = Jürgen Mittelstraß
 |date                 = 25 October 2012
 |orig-date            = 1997
 |chapter              = Progress: Fact and Fiction
 |title                = The Idea of Progress
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=kZ8gAAAAQBAJ
 |series               = Philosophie und Wissenschaft – Volume 13
 |edition              = reprint
 |publication-place    = Berlin
 |publisher            = Walter de Gruyter
 |page                 = 14
 |isbn                 = 9783110820423
 |access-date          = 13 October 2023
 |quote                = In historic reflections on art, cyclic schemas play a prominent role. This is a difference between art history and science history. The idea of linear progress simply does not apply in the esthetic domain.
}} 
</ref>
but historians have come to see the story as more complex.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Kragh |first= Helge |title= An introduction to the historiography of science |date= 1987 |publisher= Cambridge University Press |isbn= 0-521-33360-1 |location= Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] |oclc= 14692886}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title= A companion to the history of science |date= 2016 |author= Bernard V. Lightman |isbn= 978-1-118-62077-9 |location= Chichester (GB) |oclc= 950521936 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=yQj9CgAAQBAJ}}</ref><ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Golinski
 |first1               = Jan
 |date                 = 22 July 2008
 |orig-date            = 1998
 |title                = Making Natural Knowledge: Constructivism and the History of Science
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=SZcCElvmF7sC
 |series               = Cambridge history of science
 |edition              = revised
 |publication-place    = Chicago
 |publisher            = University of Chicago Press
 |page                 = 188
 |isbn                 = 9780226302324
 |access-date          = 13 October 2023
 |quote                = [...] historical writing [...] has largely abandoned the aim of telling a story of science's universal progress.
}} 
</ref>
[[Alfred Edward Taylor]] has characterised lean periods in the advance of scientific discovery as "periodical bankruptcies of science".<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Thomas
 |first1               = Norman
 |year                 = 1961
 |title                = Great Dissenters
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=FQ_PyhHvACoC
 |publisher            = Norton
 |page                 = 25
 |access-date          = 13 October 2023
 |quote                = [...] the brilliant Periclean Age, according to Dr. A. E. Taylor, witnessed one of the periodical bankruptcies of science [...].
}} 
</ref>

Science is a human activity, and scientific contributions have come from people from a wide range of different backgrounds and cultures. Historians of science increasingly see their field as part of a global history of exchange, conflict and collaboration.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Poskett |first= James |title= Horizons : a global history of science |date= 2022 |isbn= 978-0-241-39409-0 |location= [London] |oclc= 1235416152}}</ref>

The [[relationship between science and religion]] has been variously characterized in terms of "conflict", "harmony", "complexity", and "mutual independence", among others. Events in Europe such as the [[Galileo affair]] of the early 17th century – associated with the scientific revolution and the [[Age of Enlightenment]] – led scholars such as [[John William Draper]] to postulate ({{circa | 1874}}) a [[conflict thesis]], suggesting that religion and science have been in conflict methodologically, factually and politically throughout history. The "conflict thesis" has since lost favor among the majority of contemporary scientists and historians of science.<ref name="Russel, C.A. 2002 7">{{cite book |last= Russel |first=C. A. |editor-last= Ferngren |editor-first=G. B.|year= 2002| title= Science & Religion: A Historical Introduction |page= 7 |publisher= [[Johns Hopkins University Press]] |isbn= 978-0-8018-7038-5 |quote= The conflict thesis, at least in its simple form, is now widely perceived as a wholly inadequate intellectual framework within which to construct a sensible and realistic historiography of Western science.}}</ref><ref name="Shapin1996">{{cite book | last = Shapin |first=S. | year = 1996 | title = The Scientific Revolution | url = https://archive.org/details/scientificrevolu00shap_0 | url-access = registration | page = [https://archive.org/details/scientificrevolu00shap_0/page/195 195] | publisher = [[University of Chicago Press]] | isbn = 978-0226750200 | quote = In the late Victorian period it was common to write about the 'warfare between science and religion' and to presume that the two bodies of culture must always have been in conflict. However, it is a very long time since these attitudes have been held by historians of science.}}</ref><ref name="Brooke1991">{{cite book | last = Brooke |first=J. H.| year = 1991 | title = Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives | page= 42 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | quote = In its traditional forms, the conflict thesis has been largely discredited.}}</ref> However, some contemporary philosophers and scientists, such as [[Richard Dawkins]],<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Taliaferro
 |first1               = Charles
 |author-link1         = Charles Taliaferro
 |editor-last1         = Oppy
 |editor-first1        = Graham
 |editor-link1         = Graham Oppy
 |editor-last2         = Trakakis
 |editor-first2        = N. N.
 |editor-link2         = Nick Trakakis
 |date                 = 11 September 2014
 |orig-date            = 2009
 |title                = Twentieth-Century Philosophy of Religion
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=N2h_BAAAQBAJ
 |series               = The History of Western Philosophy of Religion, Volume 5
 |edition              = reprint
 |publication-place    = Abingdon
 |publisher            = Routledge
 |isbn                 = 9781317546382
 |access-date          = 13 October 2023
 |chapter              = Twentieth-century Philosophy of Religiion: An Introduction
 |quote                = At the close of the twentieth century, proponents of the conflict thesis are well represented by Richard Dawkins, E. O. Wilson and Daniel Dennett. 
}} 
</ref> still subscribe to this thesis.

Historians have emphasized<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shapin |first=Steven |date=September 1988 |title=The House of Experiment in Seventeenth-Century England |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/354773 |journal=Isis |volume=79 |issue=3 |pages=373–404 |doi=10.1086/354773 |issn=0021-1753|url-access=subscription }}</ref> that trust is necessary for agreement on claims about nature. In this light, the 1660 establishment of the [[Royal Society]] and its code of experiment – trustworthy because witnessed by its members – has become an [[Leviathan and the Air-Pump|important chapter]] in the [[historiography]] of science.<ref>{{Cite book |last= Shapin |first= Steven |title= Leviathan and the air-pump : Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life |date= 2018 |isbn= 978-0-691-17816-5  |location=Princeton, N.J. |oclc=984327399}}</ref> Many people in modern history (typically [[Women in science|women]] and persons of color) were excluded from elite scientific communities and [[Scientific racism|characterized by the science establishment as inferior]]. Historians in the 1980s and 1990s described the structural barriers to participation and began to recover the contributions of overlooked individuals.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schiebinger |first= Londa L. |title= Nature's body : gender in the making of modern science |date= 2013 |publisher= Rutgers University Press |isbn= 978-0-8135-3531-9 |edition= 5th pbk. print |location= New Brunswick, N.J. |oclc= 1048657291}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last= Haraway |first= Donna Jeanne |title= Primate visions : gender, race, and nature in the world of modern science |date=1989 |publisher= Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-60815-5 |location=New York |oclc=555643149}}</ref> Historians have also investigated the mundane practices of science such as fieldwork and specimen collection,<ref>{{Cite journal |last= Kohler |first= Robert E. |date=December 2007 |title=Finders, Keepers: Collecting Sciences and Collecting Practice |journal= History of Science |volume= 45 |issue=4 |pages=428–454 |doi= 10.1177/007327530704500403 |s2cid= 147175644 |issn= 0073-2753}}</ref> correspondence,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Secord |first=Anne |date=December 1994 |title=Corresponding interests: artisans and gentlemen in nineteenth-century natural history |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |volume= 27 |issue= 4 |pages= 383–408 |doi= 10.1017/S0007087400032416 |s2cid= 144777485 |issn= 0007-0874|doi-access=free }}</ref> drawing,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nasim |first=Omar W. |title= Observing by hand : sketching the nebulae in the nineteenth century |date= 2013 |isbn= 978-0-226-08440-4 |location=Chicago |oclc=868276095}}</ref> record-keeping,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eddy |first= Matthew Daniel |date= 2016 |title= The Interactive Notebook: How Students Learned to Keep Notes during the Scottish Enlightenment |journal= Book History |volume= 19 |issue=1 |pages=86–131 |doi= 10.1353/bh.2016.0002 |s2cid=151427109 |issn=1529-1499 |url= http://dro.dur.ac.uk/19136/1/19136.pdf |access-date= 17 September 2022 |archive-date=15 June 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220615185141/https://dro.dur.ac.uk/19136/1/19136.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> and the use of laboratory and field equipment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schaffer |first= Simon |date= 1992-06-01 |editor-last= Bud |editor-first= Robert |editor2-last= Cozzens |editor2-first= Susan E. |title= Invisible Connections: Instruments, Institutions, and Science |chapter= Late Victorian metrology and its instrumentation: A manufactory of Ohms |journal=<!---->|series= SPIE Conference Series |volume=10309 |page=1030904  |doi= 10.1117/12.2283709|bibcode= 1992SPIE10309E..04S |s2cid=115323404 }}</ref>

== Prehistory ==
{{Further|Science in the ancient world|Protoscience|Alchemy}}

In [[Prehistory|prehistoric]] times, knowledge and technique were passed from generation to generation in an [[oral tradition]]. For instance, the domestication of [[maize]] for agriculture has been dated to about 9,000 years ago in southern [[Mexico]], before the development of [[writing system]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1=Matsuoka | first1=Yoshihiro | last2=Vigouroux | first2=Yves | last3=Goodman | first3=Major M. | last4=Sanchez G. | first4=Jesus | last5=Buckler | first5=Edward | last6=Doebley | first6=John | title=A single domestication for maize shown by multilocus microsatellite genotyping | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume=99 | issue=9 | pages=6080–6084 | date=30 April 2002 | pmid=11983901 | pmc=122905 | doi=10.1073/pnas.052125199 |bibcode=2002PNAS...99.6080M | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25creature.html?_r=1 Sean B. Carroll (24 May 2010),"Tracking the Ancestry of Corn Back 9,000 Years" ''New York Times''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830121104/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25creature.html?_r=1 |date=30 August 2017 }}.</ref><ref>Francesca Bray (1984), ''[[Science and Civilisation in China]]'' '''VI.2''' '''''Agriculture''''' pp 299, 453 writes that [[teosinte]], 'the father of corn', helps the success and vitality of corn when planted between the rows of its 'children', [[maize]].</ref> Similarly, [[Archaeology|archaeological]] evidence indicates the development of [[Astronomy|astronomical]] knowledge in preliterate societies.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Hoskin | first=Michael | title=Tombs, Temples and their Orientations: a New Perspective on Mediterranean Prehistory | place=Bognor Regis, UK | publisher=Ocarina Books | year=2001 | isbn=978-0-9540867-1-8 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last=Ruggles | first=Clive | author-link=Clive Ruggles | title=Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland | place=New Haven | publisher=Yale University Press | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-300-07814-5 }}</ref>

The oral tradition of preliterate societies had several features, the first of which was its fluidity.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> New information was constantly absorbed and adjusted to new circumstances or community needs. There were no archives or reports. This fluidity was closely related to the practical need to explain and justify a present state of affairs.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Another feature was the tendency to describe the universe as just sky and earth, with a potential [[underworld]]. They were also prone to identify causes with beginnings, thereby providing a historical origin with an explanation. There was also a reliance on a "[[medicine man]]" or "[[cunning folk|wise woman]]" for healing, knowledge of divine or demonic causes of diseases, and in more extreme cases, for rituals such as [[exorcism]], [[divination]], songs, and [[incantation]]s.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Finally, there was an inclination to unquestioningly accept explanations that might be deemed implausible in more modern times while at the same time not being aware that such credulous behaviors could have posed problems.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/>

The development of writing enabled humans to store and communicate knowledge across generations with much greater accuracy. Its invention was a prerequisite for the development of philosophy and later [[Science in the ancient world|science in ancient times]].<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Moreover, the extent to which philosophy and science would flourish in ancient times depended on the efficiency of a writing system (e.g., use of alphabets).<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/>

==Ancient Near East==
The earliest roots of science can be traced to the [[Ancient Near East]] {{circa|3000–1200&nbsp;BCE}}{{snd}}in particular to [[Ancient Egypt]] and [[History of Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]].<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/>

===Ancient Egypt===
{{Further|Egyptian astronomy|Ancient Egyptian mathematics|Ancient Egyptian medicine}}

====Number system and geometry====
Starting {{circa|3000&nbsp;BCE|lk=no}}, the ancient Egyptians developed a numbering system that was decimal in character and had oriented their knowledge of geometry to solving practical problems such as those of surveyors and builders.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Their development of [[geometry]] was itself a necessary development of [[surveying]] to preserve the layout and ownership of farmland, which was flooded annually by the [[Nile]]. The 3-4-5 [[right triangle]] and other rules of geometry were used to build rectilinear structures, and the post and lintel architecture of Egypt.

====Disease and healing====
[[File:PEbers c41-bc.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|The Ebers Papyrus ({{circa|1550&nbsp;BCE|lk=no}}) from [[Ancient Egypt]] ]]
Egypt was also a center of [[History of alchemy|alchemy]] research for much of the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]]. According to the [[Egyptian medical papyri|medical papyri]] (written {{circa|2500–1200 BCE|lk=no}}), the ancient Egyptians believed that disease was mainly caused by the invasion of bodies by evil forces or spirits.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Thus, in addition to [[Egyptian medicine|medicine]], therapies included prayer, [[incantation]], and ritual.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> The [[Ebers Papyrus]], written {{circa|1600&nbsp;BCE|lk=no}}, contains medical recipes for treating diseases related to the eyes, mouth, skin, internal organs, and extremities, as well as abscesses, wounds, burns, ulcers, swollen glands, tumors, headaches, and bad breath. The [[Edwin Smith Papyrus]], written at about the same time, contains a surgical manual for treating wounds, fractures, and dislocations. The Egyptians believed that the effectiveness of their medicines depended on the preparation and administration under appropriate rituals.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Medical historians believe that ancient Egyptian pharmacology, for example, was largely ineffective.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite book |last=Perkins |first=Michael D. |chapter=Pharmacological Practices of Ancient Egypt |title=Proceedings of the 10th Annual History of Medicine Days |hdl=1880/51835 |editor-first=W. A. |editor-last=Whitelaw |access-date=9 March 2010 |url=http://www.hom.ucalgary.ca/Dayspapers2001.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407062556/http://www.hom.ucalgary.ca/Dayspapers2001.pdf|publisher=Faculty of Medicine, The University of Calgary |date=2001 |pages=5–11 |archive-date=2008-04-07 }}</ref> Both the Ebers and Edwin Smith papyri applied the following components to the treatment of disease: examination, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Edwin Smith papyrus: Egyptian medical book |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Edwin-Smith-papyrus |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=21 December 2016 |archive-date=1 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141101084403/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/179901/Edwin-Smith-papyrus |url-status=live }}</ref> which display strong parallels to the basic [[empirical method]] of science and, according to G. E. R. Lloyd,<ref>Lloyd, G. E. R.  "The development of empirical research", in his ''Magic, Reason and Experience: Studies in the Origin and Development of Greek Science''.</ref> played a significant role in the development of this methodology.

====Calendar====
The ancient Egyptians even developed an official calendar that contained twelve months, thirty days each, and five days at the end of the year.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Unlike the Babylonian calendar or the ones used in Greek city-states at the time, the official Egyptian calendar was much simpler as it was fixed and did not take [[Lunar phase|lunar]] and solar cycles into consideration.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/>

===Mesopotamia===
{{Further|Babylonian astronomy|Babylonian mathematics|Babylonian medicine}}
[[File:Divinatory livers Louvre AO19837.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Clay models of animal livers dating between the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries BCE, found in the royal palace at [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] in what is now Syria]]
The ancient Mesopotamians had extensive knowledge about the [[Chemical property|chemical properties]] of clay, sand, metal ore, [[bitumen]], stone, and other natural materials, and applied this knowledge to practical use in manufacturing [[pottery]], [[faience]], glass, soap, metals, [[lime plaster]], and waterproofing. [[Metallurgy]] required knowledge about the properties of metals. Nonetheless, the Mesopotamians seem to have had little interest in gathering information about the natural world for the mere sake of gathering information and were far more interested in studying the manner in which the gods had ordered the [[universe]]. Biology of non-human organisms was generally only written about in the context of mainstream academic disciplines. [[Animal physiology]] was studied extensively for the purpose of [[divination]]; the anatomy of the [[liver]], which was seen as an important organ in [[haruspicy]], was studied in particularly intensive detail. [[Animal behavior]] was also studied for divinatory purposes. Most information about the training and domestication of animals was probably transmitted orally without being written down, but one text dealing with the training of horses has survived.<ref name="McIntosh2005"/>

====Mesopotamian medicine====
The ancient [[Mesopotamia]]ns had no distinction between "rational science" and [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]].<ref name="Farber1995">{{Cite book|last=Farber|first=Walter|date=1995 |chapter=Witchcraft, Magic, and Divination in Ancient Mesopotamia|title=Civilizations of the Ancient Near East|volume=3|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Charles Schribner's Sons, MacMillan Library Reference USA, Simon & Schuster MacMillan|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780684192796/page/1891 1891–1908]|isbn=978-0-684-19279-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780684192796/page/1891 |access-date=12 May 2018}}</ref><ref name="Abusch">{{cite book |last=Abusch|first=Tzvi|title=Mesopotamian Witchcraft: Towards a History and Understanding of Babylonian Witchcraft Beliefs and Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Slhv-0ewLHwC|location=Leiden, The Netherlands |publisher=Brill|year=2002|isbn=978-90-04-12387-8|page=56|access-date=7 May 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803051833/https://books.google.com/books?id=Slhv-0ewLHwC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Brown">{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Michael|date=1995|title=Israel's Divine Healer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KCzmNKnLqMkC|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=978-0-310-20029-1|page=42|access-date=7 May 2020|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803054328/https://books.google.com/books?id=KCzmNKnLqMkC|url-status=live}}</ref> When a person became ill, doctors prescribed magical formulas to be recited as well as medicinal treatments.<ref name="Farber1995"/><ref name="Abusch"/><ref name="Brown"/><ref name="McIntosh2005">{{cite book|last1=McIntosh|first1=Jane R.|title=Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives|date=2005|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, California, Denver, Colorado, and Oxford, England|isbn=978-1-57607-966-9|pages=273–276|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9veK7E2JwkUC&q=science+in+ancient+Mesopotamia|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=5 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205162758/https://books.google.com/books?id=9veK7E2JwkUC&q=science+in+ancient+Mesopotamia|url-status=live}}</ref> The earliest medical prescriptions appear in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] during the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] ({{circa}} 2112 BCE – {{circa}} 2004 BCE).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health in Ancient Mesopotamia |first=R D. |last=Biggs |journal=Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies |volume=19 |number=1 |year=2005 |pages=7–18}}</ref> The most extensive [[Babylonia]]n medical text, however, is the ''Diagnostic Handbook'' written by the ''ummânū'', or chief scholar, [[Esagil-kin-apli]] of [[Borsippa]],<ref name="Stol-99">{{cite book|last=Heeßel|first=N. P.|date=2004|chapter=Diagnosis, Divination, and Disease: Towards an Understanding of the ''Rationale'' Behind the Babylonian ''Diagnostic Handbook''|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p6rejN-iF0IC&q=Diagnostic+Handbook|title=Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine|editor1-last=Horstmanshoff|editor1-first=H.F.J.|editor2-last=Stol|editor2-first=Marten|editor3-last=Tilburg|editor3-first=Cornelis|series=Studies in Ancient Medicine|volume=27|location=Leiden, The Netherlands|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-13666-3|pages=97–116|access-date=12 May 2018|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803060925/https://books.google.com/books?id=p6rejN-iF0IC&q=Diagnostic+Handbook|url-status=live}}</ref> during the reign of the Babylonian king [[Adad-apla-iddina]] (1069–1046 BCE).<ref>Marten Stol (1993), ''Epilepsy in Babylonia'', p. 55, [[Brill Publishers]], {{ISBN|978-90-72371-63-8}}.</ref> In [[East Semitic]] cultures, the main medicinal authority was a kind of exorcist-healer known as an ''[[Asipu|āšipu]]''.<ref name="Farber1995"/><ref name="Abusch"/><ref name="Brown"/> The profession was generally passed down from father to son and was held in extremely high regard.<ref name="Farber1995"/> Of less frequent recourse was another kind of healer known as an ''asu'', who corresponds more closely to a modern physician and treated physical symptoms using primarily [[folk remedies]] composed of various herbs, animal products, and minerals, as well as potions, enemas, and ointments or [[poultices]]. These physicians, who could be either male or female, also dressed wounds, set limbs, and performed simple surgeries. The ancient Mesopotamians also practiced [[prophylaxis]] and took measures to prevent the spread of disease.<ref name="McIntosh2005"/>

====Astronomy and celestial divination====
[[File:-200 Sternenliste aus Uruk star list anagoria.JPG|thumb|Star list with distance information, [[Uruk]] (Iraq), 320-150 BCE, the list gives each constellation, the number of stars and the distance information to the next constellation in ells]]
In [[Babylonian astronomy]], records of the motions of the [[star]]s, [[planet]]s, and the [[moon]] are left on thousands of [[clay tablet]]s created by [[scribe]]s. Even today, astronomical periods identified by Mesopotamian proto-scientists are still widely used in [[Gregorian calendar|Western calendars]] such as the [[solar year]] and the [[lunar month]]. Using this data, they developed mathematical methods to compute the changing length of daylight in the course of the year, predict the appearances and disappearances of the Moon and planets, and eclipses of the Sun and Moon. Only a few astronomers' names are known, such as that of [[Kidinnu]], a [[Chaldea]]n astronomer and mathematician. Kiddinu's value for the solar year is in use for today's calendars. Babylonian astronomy was "the first and highly successful attempt at giving a refined mathematical description of astronomical phenomena." According to the historian A. Aaboe, "all subsequent varieties of scientific astronomy, in the Hellenistic world, in India, in Islam, and in the West—if not indeed all subsequent endeavour in the exact sciences—depend upon Babylonian astronomy in decisive and fundamental ways."<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Scientific Astronomy in Antiquity |author=Aaboe, A. |journal=[[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society]] |volume=276 |issue=1257|date=2 May 1974 |pages=21–42|doi=10.1098/rsta.1974.0007 |bibcode=1974RSPTA.276...21A |jstor=74272|s2cid=122508567 }}</ref>

To the [[Babylon]]ians and other [[Near East]]ern cultures, messages from the gods or omens were concealed in all natural phenomena that could be deciphered and interpreted by those who are adept.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Hence, it was believed that the gods could speak through all terrestrial objects (e.g., animal entrails, dreams, malformed births, or even the color of a dog urinating on a person) and celestial phenomena.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> Moreover, Babylonian astrology was inseparable from Babylonian astronomy.

====Mathematics====
The Mesopotamian [[cuneiform]] tablet [[Plimpton 322]], dating to the 18th century BCE, records a number of [[Pythagorean triple]]ts (3, 4, 5) and (5, 12, 13) ...,<ref>[[Paul Hoffman (science writer)|Paul Hoffman]], ''The man who loved only numbers: the story of Paul Erdős and the search for mathematical truth'', (New York: Hyperion), 1998, p. 187. {{ISBN|978-0-7868-6362-4}}</ref> hinting that the ancient Mesopotamians might have been aware of the [[Pythagorean theorem]] over a millennium before Pythagoras.<ref>{{cite book|last=Burkert|first=Walter|author-link=Walter Burkert|date=1 June 1972|title=Lore and Science in Ancient Pythagoreanism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qqp4Vk1zG0C&q=Pythagoreanism |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-53918-1|pages=429, 462|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=29 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129145253/https://books.google.com/books?id=0qqp4Vk1zG0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=Pythagoreanism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiX4Y3W9bfXAhXBeSYKHfBxCG4Q6AEIMTAC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kahn|first=Charles H.|author-link=Charles H. Kahn|date=2001|title=Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans: A Brief History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKUtAwAAQBAJ&q=Pythagoreanism&pg=PA72|location=Indianapolis, Indiana and Cambridge, England |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-87220-575-8|page=32|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=31 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331100347/https://books.google.com/books?id=GKUtAwAAQBAJ&q=Pythagoreanism&pg=PA72|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Riedweg|first=Christoph|date=2005|orig-year=2002 |title=Pythagoras: His Life, Teachings, and Influence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A8ixyQJA7_MC&q=Pythagoras|location=Ithaca, New York|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-7452-1|page=27|access-date=3 October 2020|archive-date=28 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228161323/https://books.google.com/books?id=A8ixyQJA7_MC&q=Pythagoras|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Ancient and medieval South Asia and East Asia==
Mathematical achievements from Mesopotamia had some influence on the development of mathematics in India, and there were confirmed transmissions of mathematical ideas between India and China, which were bidirectional.<ref name=joseph2011a>{{cite book | last = Joseph | first = George G. | date = 2011 | chapter = The history of mathematics: Alternative perspectives | title = The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics | edition = 3rd | pages = 418–449 | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = New Jersey | isbn = 978-0691135267}}</ref> Nevertheless, the mathematical and scientific achievements in India and particularly in China occurred largely independently<ref name = "sivin1985">{{cite journal | last = Sivin | first = Nathan | author-link = Nathan Sivin | title = Why the Scientific Revolution did not take place in China – or did it? | journal = The Environmentalist | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | pages = 39–50 | date = 1985 | doi = 10.1007/BF02239866 | bibcode = 1985ThEnv...5...39S | s2cid = 45700796 | url = https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02239866 | access-date = 8 June 2021 | archive-date = 8 June 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210608185003/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02239866 | url-status = live | url-access = subscription }}</ref> from those of Europe and the confirmed early influences that these two civilizations had on the development of science in Europe in the pre-modern era were indirect, with Mesopotamia and later the Islamic World acting as intermediaries.<ref name=joseph2011a/> The arrival of modern science, which grew out of the [[Scientific Revolution]], in India and China and the greater Asian region in general can be traced to the scientific activities of Jesuit missionaries who were interested in studying the region's [[flora]] and [[fauna]] during the 16th to 17th century.<ref name=bartholomew2003>{{cite book | last = Bartholomew | first = James R. | date = 2003 | editor1-last = Heilbron | editor1-first = John L. | chapter = Asia | title = The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science | pages = 51–55 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York| isbn = 978-0195112290}}</ref>

===India===
{{Further|History of science and technology in the Indian subcontinent}}

====Mathematics====
{{anchor|Indian astronomy|Indian mathematics}}
{{Main|Indian mathematics|}}
[[File:Bakhshali_numerals_2.jpg|thumb|The numerical system of the [[Bakhshali manuscript]]]]
[[File:Brahmaguptra's_theorem.svg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Brahmagupta's theorem]]]]
The earliest traces of mathematical knowledge in the Indian subcontinent appear with the [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] ({{cx|3300|1300&nbsp;BCE}}). The people of this civilization made bricks whose dimensions were in the proportion 4:2:1, which is favorable for the stability of a brick structure.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Projects/Pearce/chapter-3/|title=3: Early Indian culture – Indus civilisation|work=st-and.ac.uk}}</ref> They also tried to standardize measurement of length to a high degree of accuracy. They designed a ruler—the ''Mohenjo-daro ruler''—whose length of approximately {{cvt|1.32|inch}} was divided into ten equal parts. Bricks manufactured in ancient Mohenjo-daro often had dimensions that were integral multiples of this unit of length.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bisht |first=R. S.|year=1982|chapter=Excavations at Banawali: 1974–77|editor-last=Possehl |editor-first=Gregory L. |title=Harappan Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective|pages=113–124 |publisher=Oxford and IBH Publishing}}</ref>

The [[Bakhshali manuscript]] contains problems involving [[arithmetic]], [[algebra]] and [[geometry]], including [[Mensuration (mathematics)|mensuration]]. The topics covered include fractions, square roots, [[Arithmetic progression|arithmetic]] and [[geometric progression]]s, solutions of simple equations, [[simultaneous linear equations]], [[quadratic equations]] and [[indeterminate equations]] of the second degree.<ref name="Plofker">{{citation |last=Plofker |first=Kim |title=Mathematics in India |title-link=Mathematics in India (book) |page=158 |year=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-12067-6 |author-link=Kim Plofker}}</ref> In the 3rd century BCE, [[Pingala]] presents the ''Pingala-sutras'',  the earliest known treatise on [[Sanskrit prosody]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Vaman Shivaram Apte |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ArxvCxV1l4C&pg=PA648 |title=Sanskrit Prosody and Important Literary and Geographical Names in the Ancient History of India |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |year=1970 |isbn=978-81-208-0045-8 |pages=648–649}}</ref> He also presents a numerical system by adding one to the sum of [[place value]]s.<ref>B. van Nooten, "Binary Numbers in Indian Antiquity", Journal of Indian Studies, Volume 21, 1993, pp. 31–50</ref> Pingala's work also includes material related to the [[Fibonacci numbers]], called ''{{IAST|mātrāmeru}}''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Susantha Goonatilake |url=https://archive.org/details/towardglobalscie0000goon |title=Toward a Global Science |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-253-33388-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/towardglobalscie0000goon/page/126 126] |quote=Virahanka Fibonacci. |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Indian astronomer and mathematician [[Aryabhata]] (476–550), in his ''[[Aryabhatiya]]'' (499) introduced the [[sine]] function in [[trigonometry]] and the number 0. In 628, [[Brahmagupta]] suggested that [[gravity]] was a force of attraction.<ref>{{Cite book| last=Pickover| first=Clifford| author-link=Clifford A. Pickover| title=Archimedes to Hawking: laws of science and the great minds behind them| publisher=[[Oxford University Press US]]| year=2008| page=105| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SQXcpvjcJBUC&pg=PA105| isbn=978-0-19-533611-5| access-date=7 May 2020| archive-date=18 January 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118060420/https://books.google.com/books?id=SQXcpvjcJBUC| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Mainak Kumar Bose, ''Late Classical India'', A. Mukherjee & Co., 1988, p. 277.</ref> He also lucidly explained the use of [[0 (number)|zero]] as both a placeholder and a [[decimal digit]], along with the [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system]] now used universally throughout the world. [[Arabic]] translations of the two astronomers' texts were soon available in the [[Caliph|Islamic world]], introducing what would become [[Arabic numerals]] to the Islamic world by the 9th century.<ref name="ifrah">Ifrah, Georges. 1999. ''The Universal History of Numbers : From Prehistory to the Invention of the Computer'', Wiley. {{ISBN|978-0-471-37568-5}}.</ref><ref name="oconnor">O'Connor, J. J. and E. F. Robertson. 2000. [http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Indian_numerals.html 'Indian Numerals'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131009/http://www-gap.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/%7Ehistory/HistTopics/Indian_numerals.html |date=29 September 2007 }}, ''MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive'', School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland.</ref>

[[Narayana Pandita (mathematician)|Narayana Pandita]] (1340–1400<ref>{{Cite web |title=Narayana - Biography |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Narayana/ |access-date=2022-10-03 |website=Maths History |language=en}}</ref>) was an Indian [[mathematician]]. [[Kim Plofker|Plofker]] writes that his texts were the most significant Sanskrit mathematics treatises after those of [[Bhaskara II]], other than the [[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics|Kerala school]].<ref>{{citation | author=[[Kim Plofker]] | title=Mathematics in India: 500 BCE–1800 CE | title-link= Mathematics in India (book) | year=2009 | publisher=Princeton University Press | isbn= 978-0-691-12067-6}}</ref>{{rp|52}} He wrote the ''[[Ganita Kaumudi]]'' (lit. "Moonlight of mathematics") in 1356 about mathematical operations.<ref>{{citation | last=Kusuba|first=Takanori | contribution=Indian Rules for the Decomposition of Fractions | year=2004 | title=Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of [[David Pingree]] | publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] | isbn=9004132023 | issn=0169-8729 | editor1=Charles Burnett | editor2=Jan P. Hogendijk | editor3=Kim Plofker |display-editors = 3 | editor4=Michio Yano | page = 497}}</ref> The work anticipated many developments in [[combinatorics]].

Between the 14th and 16th centuries, the [[Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics]] made significant advances in astronomy and especially mathematics, including fields such as trigonometry and analysis. In particular, [[Madhava of Sangamagrama]] led advancement in [[mathematical analysis|analysis]] by providing the infinite and taylor series expansion of some trigonometric functions and pi approximation.<ref name=katz>{{Cite journal|last=Katz |first=Victor J. |author-link=Victor J. Katz |date=June 1995 |title=Ideas of Calculus in Islam and India |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0025570X.1995.11996307 |journal=[[Mathematics Magazine]] |language=en |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=163–174 |doi=10.1080/0025570X.1995.11996307 |issn=0025-570X |jstor=2691411|url-access=subscription }}</ref>  [[Parameshvara]] (1380–1460), presents a case of the Mean Value theorem in his commentaries on [[Govindasvāmi]] and [[Bhāskara II]].<ref>J. J. O'Connor and E. F. Robertson (2000). [https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Paramesvara/ Paramesvara], ''[[MacTutor History of Mathematics archive]]''.</ref> The ''[[Yuktibhāṣā]]''  was written by [[Jyeshtadeva]] in 1530.<ref name="gybrima">{{cite book |last1=Sarma |first1=K. V. |author-link1=K. V. Sarma |url=https://www.springer.com/math/history+of+mathematics/book/978-1-84882-072-2 |title=Ganita-Yukti-Bhasa (Rationales in Mathematical Astronomy) of Jyesthadeva |last2=Ramasubramanian |first2=K. |last3=Srinivas |first3=M. D. |last4=Sriram |first4=M. S. |date=2008 |publisher=Springer (jointly with Hindustan Book Agency, New Delhi) |isbn=978-1-84882-072-2 |edition=1st |series=Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics and Physical Sciences |volume=I-II |pages=LXVIII, 1084 |bibcode=2008rma..book.....S |access-date=17 December 2009}}</ref>

==== Astronomy ====
{{Main|Indian astronomy|}}
[[File:Page_from_Lilavati,_the_first_volume_of_Siddhānta_Śiromaṇī._Use_of_the_Pythagorean_theorem_in_the_corner.jpg|thumb|Copy of the [[Siddhānta Shiromani|''Siddhānta Śiromaṇī''.]] c. 1650 ]]
The first textual mention of astronomical concepts comes from the [[Veda]]s, religious literature of India.<ref name="Sarma-Ast-Ind">{{cite encyclopedia|last =Sarma|first = K.V.| title=Astronomy in India |date = 2008 |encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures|editor-last = Selin|editor-first = Helaine|doi= 10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_9554|publisher = Springer, Dordrecht|isbn = 978-1-4020-4425-0|pages = 317–321}}</ref> According to Sarma (2008): "One finds in the [[Rigveda]] intelligent speculations about the genesis of the universe from nonexistence, the configuration of the universe, the [[Spherical Earth|spherical self-supporting earth]], and the year of 360 days divided into 12 equal parts of 30 days each with a periodical intercalary month.".<ref name="Sarma-Ast-Ind" />

The first 12 chapters of the ''[[Siddhānta Shiromani|Siddhanta Shiromani]]'', written by [[Bhāskara II|Bhāskara]] in the 12th century, cover topics such as: mean longitudes of the planets; true longitudes of the planets; the three problems of diurnal rotation; syzygies; lunar eclipses; solar eclipses; latitudes of the planets; risings and settings; the moon's crescent; conjunctions of the planets with each other; conjunctions of the planets with the fixed stars; and the patas of the sun and moon. The 13 chapters of the second part cover the nature of the sphere, as well as significant astronomical and trigonometric calculations based on it.

In the ''[[Tantrasangraha]]'' treatise, [[Nilakantha Somayaji]]'s updated the Aryabhatan model for the interior planets, Mercury, and Venus and the equation that he specified for the center of these planets was more accurate than the ones in European or Islamic astronomy until the time of [[Johannes Kepler]] in the 17th century.<ref name="joseph2011j">{{cite book |last=Joseph |first=George G. |title=The Crest of the Peacock: Non-European Roots of Mathematics |date=2011 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0691135267 |edition=3rd |location=New Jersey |pages=418–449 |chapter=A Passage to Infinity: The Kerala Episode}}</ref> [[Jai Singh II]] of [[Kingdom of Amber|Jaipur]] constructed five [[Observatory|observatories]] called [[Jantar Mantar]]s in total, in [[Jantar Mantar, New Delhi|New Delhi]], [[Jantar Mantar (Jaipur)|Jaipur]], [[Jantar Mantar, Ujjain|Ujjain]], [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]] and [[Jantar Mantar, Varanasi|Varanasi]]; they were completed between 1724 and 1735.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Observatory Sites |url=http://www.jantarmantar.org/learn/observatories/sites/index.html |access-date=2024-01-29}}</ref>

====Grammar====
Some of the earliest linguistic activities can be found in [[Iron Age India]] (1st millennium BCE) with the analysis of [[Sanskrit]] for the purpose of the correct recitation and interpretation of [[Vedas|Vedic]] texts. The most notable grammarian of Sanskrit was {{IAST|[[Pāṇini]]}} (c. 520–460 BCE), whose grammar formulates close to 4,000 rules for Sanskrit. Inherent in his analytic approach are the concepts of the [[phoneme]], the [[morpheme]] and the [[root]]. The [[Tolkāppiyam]] text, composed in the early centuries of the common era,<ref name= "weiss2009d" >{{cite book | last = Weiss | first = Richard S. | year = 2009 | chapter = The invasion of utopia: The corruption of Siddha medicine by Ayurveda | title = Recipes for Immortality: Healing, Religion, and Community in South India | pages = 79–106 | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = New York, New York | isbn = 978-0195335231}}</ref> is a comprehensive text on Tamil grammar, which includes sutras on orthography, phonology, etymology, morphology, semantics, prosody, sentence structure and the significance of context in language.

====Medicine====
[[File:The_Susruta-Samhita_or_Sahottara-Tantra_(A_Treatise_on_Ayurvedic_Medicine)_LACMA_M.87.271a-g_(1_of_8).jpg|thumb|220x220px|Palm leaves of the ''[[Sushruta Samhita]]'' or ''Sahottara-Tantra'' from [[Nepal]],]]
Findings from [[Neolithic]] graveyards in what is now Pakistan show evidence of proto-dentistry among an early farming culture.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Coppa|first1=A.|title=Early Neolithic tradition of dentistry: Flint tips were surprisingly effective for drilling tooth enamel in a prehistoric population |journal=Nature |volume=440 |date=6 April 2006 |doi=10.1038/440755a |pages=755–756 |pmid=16598247 |issue=7085 |bibcode=2006Natur.440..755C |s2cid=6787162|display-authors=etal}}</ref> The ancient text [[Sushruta Samhita|Suśrutasamhitā]] of [[Sushruta|Suśruta]] describes procedures on various forms of surgery, including [[rhinoplasty]], the repair of torn ear lobes, perineal [[lithotomy]], cataract surgery, and several other excisions and other surgical procedures.<ref>E. Schultheisz (1981), History of Physiology, Pergamon Press, {{ISBN|978-0080273426}}, page 60-61, Quote: "(...) the Charaka Samhita and the Susruta Samhita, both being recensions of two ancient traditions of the Hindu medicine".</ref><ref>Wendy Doniger (2014), On Hinduism, Oxford University Press, {{ISBN|978-0199360079}}, page 79;

Sarah Boslaugh (2007), Encyclopedia of Epidemiology, Volume 1, SAGE Publications, {{ISBN|978-1412928168}}, page 547, '''Quote''': "The Hindu text known as Sushruta Samhita is possibly the earliest effort to classify diseases and injuries"</ref> The ''[[Charaka Samhita]]'' of [[Charaka]] describes ancient theories on human body, [[etiology]], [[Symptom|symptomology]] and [[Pharmacology|therapeutics]] for a wide range of diseases.<ref name="Glucklichtsov141">{{cite book |author=Ariel Glucklich |url=https://archive.org/details/stridesvishnuhin00gluc_414 |title=The Strides of Vishnu: Hindu Culture in Historical Perspective |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-531405-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/stridesvishnuhin00gluc_414/page/n155 141]–142 |url-access=registration}}</ref> It also includes sections on the importance of diet, hygiene, prevention, medical education, and the teamwork of a physician, nurse and patient necessary for recovery to health.<ref name="Svoboda1992">{{cite book |author=Robert Svoboda |title=Ayurveda: Life, Health and Longevity |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1992 |isbn=978-0140193220 |pages=189–190}}</ref><ref name="valiathan1186">MS Valiathan (2009), An Ayurvedic view of life, Current Science, Volume 96, Issue 9, pages 1186-1192</ref><ref>F.A. Hassler, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1764939 Caraka Samhita], Science, Vol. 22, No. 545, pages 17-18</ref>

==== Politics and state ====
An ancient Indian treatise on [[Public administration|statecraft]], [[economics|economic]] policy and [[military strategy]] by Kautilya<ref>{{cite journal | first=I.W. | last=Mabbett | date=1 April 1964| title=The Date of the Arthaśāstra | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume=84 | issue=2 | pages=162–169 | doi=10.2307/597102 | jstor=597102 }}<br />{{cite book | last=Trautmann | first=Thomas R. | author-link=Thomas Trautmann | title={{IAST|Kauṭilya}} and the Arthaśāstra: A Statistical Investigation of the Authorship and Evolution of the Text | year=1971 | publisher=Brill | pages=10 | quote =while in his character as author of an ''arthaśāstra'' he is generally referred to by his ''[[gotra]]'' name, {{IAST|Kauṭilya}}.}}</ref> and {{IAST|Viṣhṇugupta}},<ref>Mabbett 1964<br />Trautmann 1971:5 "the very last verse of the work...is the unique instance of the personal name {{IAST|Viṣṇugupta}} rather than the ''[[gotra]]'' name {{IAST|Kauṭilya}} in the ''Arthaśāstra''.</ref> who are traditionally identified with [[Chanakya|{{IAST|Chāṇakya}}]] (c. 350–283 BCE). In this treatise, the behaviors and relationships of the people, the King, the State, the Government Superintendents, Courtiers, Enemies, Invaders, and Corporations are analyzed and documented. [[Roger Boesche]] describes the ''[[Arthashastra|Arthaśāstra]]'' as "a book of political realism, a book analyzing how the political world does work and not very often stating how it ought to work, a book that frequently discloses to a king what calculating and sometimes brutal measures he must carry out to preserve the state and the common good."<ref>{{cite book| author-link= Roger Boesche | last=Boesche | first=Roger | title=The First Great Political Realist: Kautilya and His Arthashastra | year=2002 | publisher=Lexington Books | isbn=978-0-7391-0401-9 | page=17}}</ref>

==== Logic ====
The development of Indian logic dates back to the Chandahsutra of Pingala and ''[[anviksiki]]'' of Medhatithi Gautama (c. 6th century BCE); the [[Vyākaraṇa|Sanskrit grammar]] rules of [[Pāṇini]] (c. 5th century BCE); the [[Vaisheshika]] school's analysis of [[atomism]] (c. 6th century BCE to 2nd century BCE); the analysis of [[inference]] by [[Nyāya Sūtras|Gotama]] (c. 6th century BCE to 2nd century CE), founder of the [[Nyaya]] school of [[Hindu philosophy]]; and the [[tetralemma]] of [[Nagarjuna]] (c. 2nd century CE).

[[Indian philosophy|Indian]] logic stands as one of the three original traditions of [[logic]], alongside the [[Organon|Greek]] and the [[Chinese logic]]. The Indian tradition continued to develop through early to modern times, in the form of the [[Navya-Nyāya]] school of logic.

In the 2nd century, the [[Buddhist philosophy|Buddhist]] philosopher [[Nagarjuna]] refined the ''Catuskoti'' form of logic. The Catuskoti is also often glossed ''[[Tetralemma]]'' (Greek)  which is the name for a largely comparable, but not equatable, 'four corner argument' within the tradition of [[Classical logic]].

Navya-Nyāya developed a sophisticated language and conceptual scheme that allowed it to raise, analyse, and solve problems in logic and epistemology. It systematised all the Nyāya concepts into four main categories: sense or perception (pratyakşa), inference (anumāna), comparison or similarity ([[upamāna]]), and testimony (sound or word; śabda).

===China===
{{Further|History of science and technology in China|List of Chinese discoveries|List of Chinese inventions}}
[[File:Sea island survey.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[Liu Hui]]'s survey of a sea island from the ''[[Haidao Suanjing]]'', 3rd century AD]]

====Chinese mathematics====
{{Further|Chinese mathematics|History of mathematics#Chinese}}
From the earliest{{Citation needed|reason=earliest what? when?|date=July 2025}} the Chinese used a positional decimal system on counting boards in order to calculate. To express 10, a single rod is placed in the second box from the right. The spoken language uses a similar system to English: e.g. four thousand two hundred and seven. No symbol was used for zero. By the 1st century BCE, negative numbers and decimal fractions were in use and ''[[The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art]]'' included methods for extracting higher order roots by [[Horner's method]] and solving linear equations and by [[Pythagorean theorem|Pythagoras' theorem]]. Cubic equations were solved in the [[Tang dynasty]] and solutions of equations of order higher than 3 appeared in print in 1245 CE by [[Ch'in Chiu-shao]]. [[Pascal's triangle]] for binomial coefficients was described around 1100 by [[Jia Xian]].<ref>{{cite book
 |last1=Martzloff
 |first1=Jean-Claude
 |title=A History of Chinese Mathematics
 |year=2006
 |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg
 |isbn=9783540337836
 |page=17
 |language=English, Japanese, Chinese
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ACK1jreKgCoC&q=jia+xian+pascal+triangle
}}
</ref>

Although the first attempts at an axiomatization of geometry appear in the [[Mohist]] canon in 330 BCE, [[Liu Hui]] developed algebraic methods in geometry in the 3rd century CE and also calculated [[pi]] to 5 significant figures. In 480, [[Zu Chongzhi]] improved this by discovering the ratio <math>\tfrac{355}{113}</math> which remained the most accurate value for 1200 years.

====Astronomical observations====
{{main|Chinese astronomy}}
[[File:Su Song Star Map 1.JPG|thumb|left|One of the [[star map]]s from [[Su Song]]'s ''Xin Yi Xiang Fa Yao'' published in 1092, featuring a cylindrical projection similar to [[Mercator projection|Mercator]], and the corrected position of the [[pole star]] thanks to [[Shen Kuo]]'s astronomical observations.{{sfnp|Needham|1986a|p=208}}]]
Astronomical observations from China constitute the longest continuous sequence from any civilization and include records of sunspots (112 records from 364 BCE), supernovas (1054), lunar and solar eclipses. By the 12th century, they could reasonably accurately make predictions of eclipses, but the knowledge of this was lost during the Ming dynasty, so that the Jesuit [[Matteo Ricci]] gained much favor in 1601 by his predictions.<ref>Needham p422</ref>{{Incomplete short citation|date=December 2022}} By 635 Chinese astronomers had observed that the tails of comets always point away from the sun.

From antiquity, the Chinese used an equatorial system for describing the skies and a star map from 940 was drawn using a cylindrical ([[Mercator projection|Mercator]]) projection. The use of an [[armillary sphere]] is recorded from the 4th century BCE and a sphere permanently mounted in equatorial axis from 52 BCE. In 125 CE [[Zhang Heng]] used water power to rotate the sphere in real time. This included rings for the meridian and ecliptic. By 1270 they had incorporated the principles of the Arab [[torquetum]].

In the [[Song Empire]] (960–1279) of [[Imperial China]], Chinese [[scholar-official]]s unearthed, studied, and cataloged ancient artifacts.

====Inventions====
{{main|List of Chinese inventions}}
[[File:EastHanSeismograph.JPG|thumb|upright|A modern replica of Han dynasty polymath scientist [[Zhang Heng]]'s [[seismometer]] of 132 CE]]
To better prepare for calamities, Zhang Heng invented a [[Zhang Heng#Zhang's seismoscope|seismometer]] in 132 CE which provided instant alert to authorities in the capital Luoyang that an earthquake had occurred in a location indicated by a specific [[Cardinal direction|cardinal or ordinal direction]].<ref>[[Rafe de Crespigny|de Crespigny, Rafe]]. (2007). ''A Biographical Dictionary of Later Han to the Three Kingdoms (23–220 AD)''. Leiden: Koninklijke Brill, p. 1050. {{ISBN|90-04-15605-4}}.</ref><ref>Morton, W. Scott and Charlton M. Lewis. (2005). ''China: Its History and Culture''. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., p. 70. {{ISBN|0-07-141279-4}}.</ref> Although no tremors could be felt in the capital when Zhang told the court that an earthquake had just occurred in the northwest, a message came soon afterwards that an earthquake had indeed struck {{convert|400|to|500|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of Luoyang (in what is now modern [[Gansu]]).<ref>Minford & Lau (2002), 307; Balchin (2003), 26–27; Needham (1986a), 627; Needham (1986c), 484; Krebs (2003), 31.</ref> Zhang called his device the 'instrument for measuring the seasonal winds and the movements of the Earth' (Houfeng didong yi 候风地动仪), so-named because he and others thought that earthquakes were most likely caused by the enormous compression of trapped air.<ref name="needham volume 3 626">Needham (1986a), 626.</ref>

There are many notable contributors to early Chinese disciplines, inventions, and practices throughout the ages. One of the best examples would be the medieval Song Chinese [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095), a [[polymath]] and statesman who was the first to describe the [[magnetic]]-needle [[compass]] used for [[navigation]], discovered the concept of [[true north]], improved the design of the astronomical [[gnomon]], [[armillary sphere]], sight tube, and [[water clock|clepsydra]], and described the use of [[drydock]]s to repair boats. After observing the natural process of the inundation of [[silt]] and the find of [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] [[fossil]]s in the [[Taihang Mountains]] (hundreds of miles from the Pacific Ocean), Shen Kuo devised a theory of land formation, or [[geomorphology]]. He also adopted a theory of gradual [[Climate variability and change|climate change]] in regions over time, after observing [[petrified]] [[bamboo]] found underground at [[Yan'an]], Shaanxi. If not for Shen Kuo's writing,<ref>[[Shen Kuo]] 沈括 (1086, last supplement dated 1091), ''Meng Ch'i Pi Than (夢溪筆談, [[Dream Pool Essays]])'' as cited in {{harvnb|Needham|Robinson|Huang|2004|p=244}}</ref> the architectural works of [[Yu Hao]] would be little known, along with the inventor of [[movable type]] [[printing]], [[Bi Sheng]] (990–1051). Shen's contemporary [[Su Song]] (1020–1101) was also a brilliant polymath, an astronomer who created a celestial atlas of star maps, wrote a treatise related to [[botany]], [[zoology]], [[mineralogy]], and [[metallurgy]], and had erected a large [[astronomical]] [[clocktower]] in [[Kaifeng]] city in 1088. To operate the crowning [[armillary sphere]], his clocktower featured an [[escapement]] mechanism and the world's oldest known use of an endless power-transmitting [[chain drive]].{{sfnp|Needham|1986c|pp=111, 165, 445, 448, 456–457, 469–471}}

The [[Jesuit China missions]] of the 16th and 17th centuries "learned to appreciate the scientific achievements of this ancient culture and made them known in Europe. Through their correspondence European scientists first learned about the Chinese science and culture."<ref>Agustín Udías, ''Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories''. (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003). p. 53</ref> Western academic thought on the history of Chinese technology and science was galvanized by the work of [[Joseph Needham]] and the Needham Research Institute. Among the technological accomplishments of China were, according to the British scholar Needham, the [[hydraulics|water-powered]] [[celestial globe]] (Zhang Heng),<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/726943|title=Joseph Needham's Research on Chinese Machines in the Cross-Cultural History of Science and Technology|first1=Zhang|last1=Baichun|first2=Tian|last2=Miao|date=6 January 2019|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=60|issue=2|pages=616–624|doi=10.1353/tech.2019.0041 |pmid=31204349 |via=Project MUSE}}</ref> [[Graving dock|dry docks]], sliding [[calipers]], the double-action [[piston pump]],<ref name="auto"/> the [[blast furnace]],<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/454409a|title=The man who unveiled China|first=Simon|last=Winchester|date=6 July 2008|journal=Nature|volume=454|issue=7203|pages=409–411|via=nature.com|doi=10.1038/454409a|pmid=18650901 }}</ref> the multi-tube [[seed drill]], the [[wheelbarrow]],<ref name="auto1"/> the [[suspension bridge]],<ref name="auto1"/> the [[Fengshanche|winnowing machine]],<ref name="auto"/> [[gunpowder]],<ref name="auto1"/> the [[raised-relief map]], toilet paper,<ref name="auto1"/> the efficient harness,<ref name="auto"/> along with contributions in [[logic]], [[astronomy]], [[medicine]], and other fields.

However, cultural factors prevented these Chinese achievements from developing into "modern science". According to Needham, it may have been the religious and philosophical framework of Chinese intellectuals which made them unable to accept the ideas of laws of nature:
{{blockquote|It was not that there was no order in nature for the Chinese, but rather that it was not an order ordained by a rational personal being, and hence there was no conviction that rational personal beings would be able to spell out in their lesser earthly languages the divine code of laws which he had decreed aforetime. The [[Taoists]], indeed, would have scorned such an idea as being too naïve for the subtlety and complexity of the universe as they intuited it.{{sfnp|Needham|Wang|1954|p=581}} }}

==Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica==
{{further|Ancient American engineering|Mesoamerican calendars|Maya astronomy|Maya numerals|Maya calendar|Maya architecture|Maya medicine|Aztec medicine|Aztec calendar|Aztec architecture}}
[[File:La Mojarra Estela 1 (Escritura superior).jpg|thumb|266x266px|Detail showing columns of glyphs from a portion of the 2nd century&nbsp;CE [[La Mojarra Stela 1]] (found near [[La Mojarra]], [[Veracruz]], Mexico); the left column gives a [[Mesoamerican Long Count calendar|Long Count]] [[Mesoamerican calendars|calendar date]] of 8.5.16.9.7, or 156&nbsp;CE. The other columns visible are glyphs from the [[Epi-Olmec script]].]]

During the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Middle Formative Period]] (c. 900 BCE – c. 300 BCE) of [[Pre-Columbian]] [[Mesoamerica]], the [[Zapotec civilization]], heavily influenced by the [[Olmec civilization]], established the first known [[Zapotec script|full writing system]] of the region (possibly predated by [[Olmec hieroglyphs|the Olmec]] [[Cascajal Block]]),<ref>{{citation|last=Palka|first=Joel W.|chapter=The Development of Maya Writing|title=Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond|editor=Christopher Woods|publisher=The [[Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures|Oriental Institute]] of the [[University of Chicago]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-885923-76-9|location=Chicago|page=226}}</ref> as well as the first known astronomical [[Mesoamerican calendars|calendar in Mesoamerica]].<ref name="Mesoamerican civilization, Britannica">Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Mesoamerican civilization". ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', 3 Feb. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mesoamerican-civilization. Accessed 13 February 2024.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Price|first=T. Douglas|title=Images of the Past|author2=Gary M. Feinman|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=2005|isbn=0-07-286311-0|edition=Fourth|location=New York}} p. 321</ref> Following a period of initial urban development in the [[Preclassic Maya|Preclassical period]], the [[Classic Maya|Classic]] [[Maya civilization]] (c. 250 CE – c. 900 CE) built on the shared heritage of the Olmecs by developing the most sophisticated systems of [[Maya script|writing]], [[Maya astronomy|astronomy]], [[Maya calendar|calendrical science]], and [[Maya numerals|mathematics]] among Mesoamerican peoples.<ref name="Mesoamerican civilization, Britannica"/> The Maya developed a [[positional numeral system]] with a [[Vigesimal|base of 20]] that included the use of [[zero]] for constructing their calendars.<ref>Smith, David Eugene and LeVeque, William Judson. "Numerals and numeral systems". ''Encyclopedia Britannica'', 17 Dec. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/science/numeral. Accessed 13 February 2024.</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Palka|first=Joel W.|chapter=The Development of Maya Writing|title=Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond|editor=Christopher Woods|publisher=The [[Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures|Oriental Institute]] of the [[University of Chicago]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-885923-76-9|location=Chicago|page=227}}</ref> Maya writing, which was developed by 200 BCE, widespread by 100 BCE, and rooted [[Epi-Olmec script|in Olmec]] and Zapotec scripts, contains easily discernible calendar dates in the form of [[logograph]]s representing numbers, coefficients, and calendar periods amounting to 20 days and even 20 years for tracking social, religious, political, and economic events in 360-day years.<ref>{{citation|last=Palka|first=Joel W.|chapter=The Development of Maya Writing|title=Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond|editor=Christopher Woods|publisher=The [[Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures|Oriental Institute]] of the [[University of Chicago]]|year=2010|isbn=978-1-885923-76-9|location=Chicago|pages=226–227}}</ref>

==Classical antiquity and Greco-Roman science==
{{Further|History of science in classical antiquity}}
The contributions of the Ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians in the areas of astronomy, mathematics, and medicine had entered and shaped [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek]] [[natural philosophy]] of [[classical antiquity]], whereby formal attempts were made to provide explanations of events in the [[Universe|physical world]] based on natural causes.<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/><ref name="Grant2007a"/> Inquiries were also aimed at such practical goals such as establishing a reliable calendar or determining how to cure a variety of illnesses. The ancient people who were considered the first ''[[scientists]]'' may have thought of themselves as ''natural philosophers'', as practitioners of a skilled profession (for example, [[physician]]s), or as followers of a [[Religion|religious tradition]] (for example, [[Asclepeion|temple healers]]).

===Pre-socratics===
The earliest [[List of Greek philosophers|Greek philosophers]], known as the [[pre-Socratics]],<ref>{{harvnb|Sambursky|1974|pp=3, 37}} called the pre-Socratics the transition from ''[[Mythology|mythos]]'' to ''[[logos]]''</ref> provided competing answers to the question found in the myths of their neighbors: "How did the ordered [[cosmos]] in which we live come to be?"<ref>[[F.M. Cornford]], ''Principium Sapientiae: The Origins of Greek Philosophical Thought'', (Gloucester, Massachusetts, Peter Smith, 1971), p. 159.</ref> The pre-Socratic philosopher [[Thales]] (640–546 BCE) of [[Miletus]],<ref name="NYT-20240406">{{cite news |last=Broad |first=William J. |title=The Eclipse That Ended a War and Shook the Gods Forever – Thales, a Greek philosopher 2,600 years ago, is celebrated for predicting a famous solar eclipse and founding what came to be known as science. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/06/science/eclipse-prediction-ancient-greece-thales.html |date=6 April 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20240406100505/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/06/science/eclipse-prediction-ancient-greece-thales.html |archivedate=6 April 2024 }}</ref> identified by later authors such as Aristotle as the first of the [[Ionian School (philosophy)|Ionian philosophers]],<ref name= "lindberg2007a"/> postulated non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomena. For example, that land floats on water and that earthquakes are caused by the agitation of the water upon which the land floats, rather than the god Poseidon.<ref>Arieti, James A. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=L0w6kvdKJ8QC&dq=thales+earthquakes&pg=PA44 Philosophy in the ancient world: an introduction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230404032051/https://books.google.com/books?id=L0w6kvdKJ8QC&dq=thales+earthquakes&pg=PA44 |date=4 April 2023 }}'', p. 45. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. 386 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-3329-5}}.</ref> Thales' student [[Pythagoras]] of [[Samos]] founded the [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean school]], which investigated mathematics for its own sake, and was the first to postulate that the Earth is spherical in shape.<ref name="dicks">{{cite book |last=Dicks |first=D.R. |title=Early Greek Astronomy to Aristotle |pages=[https://archive.org/details/earlygreekastron0000dick/page/72 72–198] |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-8014-0561-7 |publisher=Cornell University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/earlygreekastron0000dick/page/72 }}</ref> [[Leucippus]] (5th century BCE) introduced [[atomism]], the theory that all [[matter]] is made of indivisible, imperishable units called [[atoms]]. This was greatly expanded on by his pupil [[Democritus]] and later [[Epicurus]].

===Natural philosophy===
[[File:Plato's Academy mosaic from Pompeii.jpg|thumb|[[Plato's Academy]]. 1st century [[mosaic]] from [[Pompeii]]]]
[[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] produced the first systematic discussions of natural philosophy, which did much to shape later investigations of nature. Their development of [[deductive reasoning]] was of particular importance and usefulness to later scientific inquiry. Plato founded the [[Platonic Academy]] in 387 BCE, whose motto was "Let none unversed in geometry enter here," and also turned out many notable philosophers. Plato's student Aristotle introduced [[empiricism]] and the notion that universal truths can be arrived at via observation and induction, thereby laying the foundations of the scientific method.<ref>{{cite book |first=De Lacy |last=O'Leary |author-link=De Lacy O'Leary |year=1949 |title=How Greek Science Passed to the Arabs |url=https://archive.org/details/howgreeksciencep0000olea |url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul  |isbn=978-0-7100-1903-5}}</ref> Aristotle also produced [[Aristotle's biology|many biological writings]] that were empirical in nature, focusing on biological causation and the diversity of life. He made countless observations of nature, especially the habits and attributes of plants and animals on [[Lesbos]], classified more than 540 animal species, and dissected at least 50.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Armand Marie Leroi |last=Leroi |first=Armand Marie |title=The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science |title-link=Aristotle's Lagoon |publisher=Bloomsbury |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-4088-3622-4 |page=7–}}</ref> Aristotle's writings profoundly influenced subsequent [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|Islamic]] and [[European science in the Middle Ages|European]] scholarship, though they were eventually superseded in the [[Scientific Revolution]].<ref>{{cite SEP|url-id=aristotle-influence|title=Aristotle's Influence|date=2018|edition=Spring 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Barnes |first1=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Barnes |title=Aristotle: A Very Short Introduction |date=1982 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=86 |isbn=978-0-19-285408-7}}</ref>

Aristotle also contributed to theories of the elements and the cosmos. He believed that the [[Astronomical object|celestial bodies]] (such as the planets and the Sun) had something called an [[unmoved mover]] that put the celestial bodies in motion. Aristotle tried to explain everything through mathematics and physics, but sometimes explained things such as the motion of celestial bodies through a higher power such as God. Aristotle did not have the technological advancements that would have explained the motion of celestial bodies.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aristotle |title="De Caelo" [On the Heavens] |publisher=The Internet Classics Archive |date=7 January 2009 |location=Translated by J. L. Stocks |pages=279 a17-30}}</ref> In addition, Aristotle had many views on the elements. He believed that everything was derived of the elements earth, water, air, fire, and lastly the [[Aether (classical element)|Aether]]. The Aether was a celestial element, and therefore made up the matter of the celestial bodies.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frede |first=Dorothea |date=1976 |title=On the Elements: Aristotle's Early Cosmology |url=https://doi.org/10.1353/hph.2008.0115 |journal=Journal of the History of Philosophy |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=227–229 |doi=10.1353/hph.2008.0115 |s2cid=144547689 |via=Project MUSE|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The elements of earth, water, air and fire were derived of a combination of two of the characteristics of hot, wet, cold, and dry, and all had their inevitable place and motion. The motion of these elements begins with earth being the closest to "the Earth," then water, air, fire, and finally Aether. In addition to the makeup of all things, Aristotle came up with theories as to why things did not return to their natural motion. He understood that water sits above earth, air above water, and fire above air in their natural state. He explained that although all elements must return to their natural state, the human body and other living things have a constraint on the elements – thus not allowing the elements making one who they are to return to their natural state.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Johnson |first=Monte |date=2004 |title=Review of The Order of Nature in Aristotle's Physics: Place and the Elements, Helen S. Lang |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/432288 |journal=Isis |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=687–688 |doi=10.1086/432288 |jstor=10.1086/432288 |issn=0021-1753 |access-date=4 December 2022 |archive-date=4 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204052419/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/432288 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The important legacy of this period included substantial advances in factual knowledge, especially in [[anatomy]], [[zoology]], [[botany]], [[mineralogy]], [[geography]], [[mathematics]] and [[astronomy]]; an awareness of the importance of certain scientific problems, especially those related to the problem of change and its causes; and a recognition of the methodological importance of applying mathematics to natural phenomena and of undertaking empirical research.<ref>[[G.E.R. Lloyd]], ''Early Greek Science: Thales to Aristotle'', (New York: W.W. Norton, 1970), pp. 144–146.</ref><ref name="NYT-20240406" /> In the [[Hellenistic age]] scholars frequently employed the principles developed in earlier Greek thought: the application of mathematics and deliberate empirical research, in their scientific investigations.<ref>[[G. E. R. Lloyd|Lloyd, G. E. R.]]  ''Greek Science after Aristotle''. New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1973.  {{ISBN|0-393-00780-4}}, p. 177.</ref> Thus, clear unbroken lines of influence lead from ancient [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy|Hellenistic philosophers]], to medieval [[Early Islamic philosophy|Muslim philosophers]] and [[Islamic science|scientists]], to the European [[Renaissance]] and [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], to the secular [[science]]s of the modern day.{{Citation needed|reason=this is a huge claim and absolutely requires a reference|date=November 2025}}
Neither reason nor inquiry began with the Ancient Greeks, but the [[Socratic method]] did, along with the idea of [[Substantial form|Forms]], give great advances in geometry, [[logic]], and the natural sciences. According to [[Benjamin Farrington]], former professor of [[Classics]] at [[Swansea University]]:
:"Men were weighing for thousands of years before [[Archimedes]] worked out the laws of equilibrium; they must have had practical and intuitional knowledge of the principals involved. What Archimedes did was to sort out the theoretical implications of this practical knowledge and present the resulting body of knowledge as a logically coherent system."

and again:

:"With astonishment we find ourselves on the threshold of modern science. Nor should it be supposed that by some trick of translation the extracts have been given an air of modernity. Far from it. The vocabulary of these writings and their style are the source from which our own vocabulary and style have been derived."<ref>''Greek Science'', many editions, such as the paperback by Penguin Books. Copyrights in 1944, 1949, 1953, 1961, 1963. The first quote above comes from Part 1, Chapter 1; the second, from Part 2, Chapter 4.</ref>

===Greek astronomy===

[[File:Antikythera mechanism.svg|thumb|upright|right | Schematic of the [[Antikythera mechanism]] (150–100 BCE).]]

The astronomer [[Aristarchus of Samos]] was the first known person to propose a heliocentric model of the [[Solar System]], while the geographer [[Eratosthenes]] accurately calculated the circumference of the Earth. [[Hipparchus]] (c. 190&nbsp;– c. 120 BCE) produced the first systematic [[Timeline of astronomical maps, catalogs, and surveys|star catalog]]. The level of achievement in Hellenistic astronomy and [[engineering]] is impressively shown by the [[Antikythera mechanism]] (150–100 BCE), an [[analog computer]] for calculating the position of planets. Technological artifacts of similar complexity did not reappear until the 14th century, when mechanical [[astronomical clock]]s appeared in Europe.<ref name=insearchoflosttime>{{cite journal | last1=Marchant | first1=Jo | year=2006 | title=In search of lost time | journal=Nature | volume=444 | issue=7119| pages=534–538 | doi=10.1038/444534a | pmid=17136067 | bibcode=2006Natur.444..534M | doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Hellenistic medicine===
There was not a defined societal structure for healthcare during the age of Hippocrates.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal | pmid = 25512827 | pmc=4263393 | volume=7 | title=Health care practices in ancient Greece: The Hippocratic ideal | year=2014 | journal=J Med Ethics Hist Med | page=6  | last1 = Kleisiaris | first1 = CF | last2 = Sfakianakis | first2 = C | last3 = Papathanasiou | first3 = IV}}</ref> At that time, society was not organized and knowledgeable as people still relied on pure religious reasoning to explain illnesses.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Hippocrates introduced the first healthcare system based on science and clinical protocols.<ref name="Kleisiaris 6">{{Cite journal |last1=Kleisiaris |first1=Christos F. |last2=Sfakianakis |first2=Chrisanthos |last3=Papathanasiou |first3=Ioanna V. |date=2014-03-15 |title=Health care practices in ancient Greece: The Hippocratic ideal |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine |volume=7 |pages=6 |issn=2008-0387 |pmc=4263393 |pmid=25512827}}</ref> Hippocrates' theories about physics and medicine helped pave the way in creating an organized medical structure for society.<ref name="Kleisiaris 6"/> In [[medicine]], [[Hippocrates]] (c. 460–370 BCE) and his followers were the first to describe many diseases and medical conditions and developed the [[Hippocratic Oath]] for physicians, still relevant and in use today. Hippocrates' ideas are expressed in [[Hippocratic Corpus|The Hippocratic Corpus]]. The collection notes descriptions of medical philosophies and how disease and lifestyle choices reflect on the physical body.<ref name="Kleisiaris 6"/> Hippocrates influenced a Westernized, professional relationship among physician and patient.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=DeHart |first=Scott M. |title=Hippocratic Medicine and the Greek Body Image |journal=Perspectives on Science |year=1999 |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=349–382 |doi=10.1162/posc.1999.7.3.349 |s2cid=57571190 |issn=1063-6145|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Hippocrates]] is also known as "the Father of Medicine".<ref name="Kleisiaris 6"/> [[Herophilos]] (335–280 BCE) was the first to base his conclusions on dissection of the human body and to describe the [[nervous system]]. [[Galen]] (129&nbsp;– c. 200 CE) performed many audacious operations—including brain and eye [[surgery|surgeries]]— that were not tried again for almost two millennia.

===Greek mathematics===
[[File:Oxyrhynchus papyrus with Euclid's Elements.jpg|thumb|One of the oldest surviving fragments of Euclid's ''Elements'', found at [[Oxyrhynchus]] and dated to c. 100 CE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/papyrus/papyrus.html |title=One of the Oldest Extant Diagrams from Euclid |author=Casselman, Bill |author-link=Bill Casselman (mathematician) |publisher=University of British Columbia |access-date=26 September 2008 |url-status=live |archive-date=4 June 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604095737/http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/Euclid/papyrus/papyrus.html}}</ref>]]
[[File:Archimedes pi.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.5<!--fmt low-aspect image-->|Archimedes used the [[method of exhaustion]] to approximate the value of [[pi|π]].]]
In [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Hellenistic Egypt]], the mathematician [[Euclid]] laid down the foundations of [[mathematical rigor]] and introduced the concepts of definition, axiom, theorem and proof still in use today in his [[Euclid's elements|''Elements'']], considered the most influential textbook ever written.<ref name="Boyer Influence of the Elements">{{cite book |last=Boyer |author-link=Carl Benjamin Boyer |title=A History of Mathematics |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmathema00boye |chapter-url-access=registration |year=1991|chapter=Euclid of Alexandria|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmathema00boye/page/119 119]|publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0471543978 |quote=The ''Elements'' of Euclid not only was the earliest major Greek mathematical work to come down to us, but also the most influential textbook of all times. [...]The first printed versions of the ''Elements'' appeared at Venice in 1482, one of the very earliest of mathematical books to be set in type; it has been estimated that since then at least a thousand editions have been published. Perhaps no book other than the Bible can boast so many editions, and certainly no mathematical work has had an influence comparable with that of Euclid's ''Elements''.}}</ref> [[Archimedes]], considered one of the greatest mathematicians of all time,<ref>{{cite book |last=Calinger |first=Ronald |title=A Contextual History of Mathematics |year=1999 |publisher=Prentice-Hall |isbn=978-0-02-318285-3 |page=150 |quote=Shortly after Euclid, compiler of the definitive textbook, came Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287–212 BC.), the most original and profound mathematician of antiquity. }}</ref> is credited with using the [[method of exhaustion]] to calculate the [[area]] under the arc of a [[parabola]] with the [[Series (mathematics)|summation of an infinite series]], and gave a remarkably accurate approximation of [[pi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=A history of calculus |author1=O'Connor, J.J. |author2=Robertson, E.F. |publisher=[[University of St Andrews]] |url=http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html |date=February 1996 |access-date=7 August 2007 |archive-date=15 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715191704/http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/The_rise_of_calculus.html |url-status=live }}</ref> He is also known in physics for laying the foundations of [[Fluid statics|hydrostatics]], [[statics]], and the explanation of the principle of the [[lever]].

===Other developments===
[[Theophrastus]] wrote some of the earliest descriptions of plants and animals, establishing the first [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]] and looking at minerals in terms of their properties, such as [[hardness]]. [[Pliny the Elder]] produced one of the largest [[encyclopedia]]s of the natural world in 77 CE, and was a successor to Theophrastus. For example, he accurately describes the [[octahedral]] shape of the [[diamond]] and noted that diamond dust is used by [[engraver]]s to cut and polish other gems owing to its great hardness. His recognition of the importance of [[crystal]] shape is a precursor to modern [[crystallography]], while notes on other minerals presages mineralogy. He recognizes other minerals have characteristic crystal shapes, but in one example, confuses the [[crystal habit]] with the work of [[lapidaries]]. Pliny was the first to show [[amber]] was a resin from pine trees, because of trapped insects within them.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=37#note92|title=Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XXXVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES.|website=perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |last1=King
 |first1=Rachel
 |title=Amber: From Antiquity to Eternity
 |publisher=Reaktion Books
 |isbn=9781789145922
 |page=107
 |date=29 August 2022
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qEt7EAAAQBAJ&dq=pliny+the+elder+amber+gnats&pg=PA107}}</ref>

The development of archaeology has its roots in history and with those who were interested in the past, such as kings and queens who wanted to show past glories of their respective nations. The 5th-century-BCE [[Greek historiography|Greek historian]] [[Herodotus]] was the first scholar to systematically study the past and perhaps the first to examine artifacts.

===Greek scholarship under Roman rule===
During the rule of Rome, famous historians such as [[Polybius]], [[Livy]] and [[Plutarch]] documented the rise of the [[Roman Republic]], and the organization and histories of other nations, while statesmen like [[Julius Caesar]], Cicero, and others provided examples of the politics of the republic and Rome's empire and wars. The study of politics during this age was oriented toward understanding history, understanding methods of governing, and describing the operation of governments.

The [[Greece in the Roman era|Roman conquest of Greece]] did not diminish learning and culture in the Greek provinces.<ref name= "lindberg2007g">{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = Roman and early medieval science | title = The Beginnings of Western Science| pages = 132–162 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref> On the contrary, the appreciation of Greek achievements in literature, philosophy, politics, and the arts by Rome's [[upper class]] coincided with the increased prosperity of the [[Roman Empire]]. Greek settlements had existed in Italy for centuries and the ability to read and speak Greek was not uncommon in Italian cities such as Rome.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Moreover, the settlement of Greek scholars in Rome, whether voluntarily or as slaves, gave Romans access to teachers of Greek literature and philosophy. Conversely, young Roman scholars also studied abroad in Greece and upon their return to Rome, were able to convey Greek achievements to their Latin leadership.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> And despite the translation of a few Greek texts into Latin, Roman scholars who aspired to the highest level did so using the Greek language. The Roman [[Politician|statesman]] and philosopher [[Cicero]] (106 – 43 BCE) was a prime example. He had studied under Greek teachers in Rome and then in Athens and [[Rhodes]]. He mastered considerable portions of Greek philosophy, wrote Latin treatises on several topics, and even wrote Greek commentaries of Plato's ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'' as well as a Latin translation of it, which has not survived.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/>

In the beginning, support for scholarship in Greek knowledge was almost entirely funded by the Roman upper class.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> There were all sorts of arrangements, ranging from a talented scholar being attached to a wealthy household to owning educated Greek-speaking slaves.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> In exchange, scholars who succeeded at the highest level had an obligation to provide advice or intellectual companionship to their Roman benefactors, or to even take care of their libraries. The less fortunate or accomplished ones would teach their children or perform menial tasks.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> The level of detail and sophistication of Greek knowledge was adjusted to suit the interests of their Roman patrons. That meant popularizing Greek knowledge by presenting information that were of practical value such as medicine or logic (for courts and politics) but excluding subtle details of Greek metaphysics and epistemology. Beyond the basics, the Romans did not value natural philosophy and considered it an amusement for leisure time.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/>

Commentaries and [[encyclopedia]]s were the means by which Greek knowledge was popularized for Roman audiences.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> The Greek scholar [[Posidonius]] (c. 135-c. 51 BCE), a native of Syria, wrote prolifically on history, geography, moral philosophy, and natural philosophy. He greatly influenced Latin writers such as [[Marcus Terentius Varro]] (116-27 BCE), who wrote the encyclopedia ''Nine Books of Disciplines'', which covered nine arts: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, musical theory, medicine, and architecture.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> The ''Disciplines'' became a model for subsequent Roman encyclopedias and Varro's nine liberal arts were considered suitable education for a Roman gentleman. The first seven of Varro's nine arts would later define the [[Liberal arts education#History|seven liberal arts]] of [[Medieval university|medieval school]]s.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> The pinnacle of the popularization movement was the Roman scholar [[Pliny the Elder]] (23/24–79 CE), a native of northern Italy, who wrote several books on the history of Rome and grammar. His most famous work was his voluminous ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]''.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/>

After the death of the Roman Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]] in 180 CE, the favorable conditions for scholarship and learning in the Roman Empire were upended by political unrest, civil war, urban decay, and looming economic crisis.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> In around 250 CE, [[Barbarian#In classical Greco-Roman contexts|barbarians]] began attacking and invading the Roman frontiers. These combined events led to a general decline in political and economic conditions. The living standards of the Roman upper class was severely impacted, and their loss of [[leisure]] diminished scholarly pursuits.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Moreover, during the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, the Roman Empire was administratively divided into two halves: [[Greek East and Latin West]]. These administrative divisions weakened the intellectual contact between the two regions.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Eventually, both halves went their separate ways, with the Greek East becoming the [[Byzantine Empire]].<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> [[Christianity]] was also steadily expanding during this time and soon became a major patron of education in the Latin West. Initially, the Christian church adopted some of the reasoning tools of Greek philosophy in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE to defend its faith against sophisticated opponents.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Nevertheless, Greek philosophy received a mixed reception from leaders and adherents of the Christian faith.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Some such as [[Tertullian]] (c. 155-c. 230 CE) were vehemently opposed to philosophy, denouncing it as [[Heresy|heretic]]. Others such as [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354-430 CE) were ambivalent and defended Greek philosophy and science as the best ways to understand the natural world and therefore treated it as a [[handmaiden]] (or servant) of religion.<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Education in the West began its gradual decline, along with the rest of [[Western Roman Empire]], due to invasions by Germanic tribes, civil unrest, and economic collapse. Contact with the classical tradition was lost in specific regions such as [[Roman Britain]] and northern [[Roman Gaul|Gaul]] but continued to exist in Rome, northern Italy, southern Gaul, Spain, and [[Africa (Roman province)|North Africa]].<ref name= "lindberg2007g"/>

==Middle Ages{{anchor|Science in the Middle Ages}}==
In the Middle Ages, the classical learning continued in three major linguistic cultures and civilizations: Greek (the Byzantine Empire), Arabic (the Islamic world), and Latin (Western Europe).

===Byzantine Empire===
{{Further|Byzantine science | List of Byzantine inventions}}
[[File:ViennaDioscoridesFolio3v7Physicians.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The frontispiece of the [[Vienna Dioscurides]], which shows a set of seven famous physicians]]

====Preservation of Greek heritage====
The [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]] led to a deterioration of the classical tradition in the western part (or [[Greek East and Latin West|Latin West]]) of Europe during the 5th century. In contrast, the Byzantine Empire resisted the barbarian attacks and preserved and improved the learning.<ref>Lindberg, David. (1992) ''The Beginnings of Western Science''. University of Chicago Press. p. 363.</ref>

While the Byzantine Empire still held learning centers such as [[Constantinople]], Alexandria and Antioch, Western Europe's knowledge was concentrated in [[Monastery|monasteries]] until the development of [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] in the 12th centuries. The curriculum of monastic schools included the study of the few available ancient texts and of new works on practical subjects like medicine<ref>Linda E. Voigts, "Anglo-Saxon Plant Remedies and the Anglo-Saxons", ''Isis'', 70 (1979): 250–268; reprinted in Michael H. Shank, ''The Scientific Enterprise in Antiquity and the Middle Ages'', Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 2000, pp. 163–181. {{ISBN|978-0-226-74951-8}}.</ref> and timekeeping.<ref>Faith Wallis, ''Bede: The Reckoning of Time'', Liverpool: Liverpool Univ. Pr., 2004, pp. xviii–xxxiv. {{ISBN|978-0-85323-693-1}}.</ref>

In the sixth century in the Byzantine Empire, [[Isidore of Miletus]] compiled Archimedes' mathematical works in the [[Archimedes Palimpsest]], where all Archimedes' mathematical contributions were collected and studied.

[[John Philoponus]], another Byzantine scholar, was the first to question Aristotle's teaching of physics, introducing the [[theory of impetus]].<ref>{{Cite book|chapter=Philoponus, John|editor=Craig, Edward|year=1998|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Volume 7, Nihilism-Quantum mechanics|pages=371–377, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0zPyhAxhDz8C&pg=PA373 373]|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-18712-1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Lindberg, David C. |year=2007|title=The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450|edition=2nd|location=Chicago|publisher=University of Chicago Press|pages=307–308|isbn=978-0-226-48205-7}} Link to [https://books.google.com/books?id=dPUBAkIm2lUC&pg=PA307 p. 307] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803040759/https://books.google.com/books?id=dPUBAkIm2lUC&pg=PA307 |date=3 August 2020 }} from Google's copy of 2008 reprint.</ref> The theory of impetus was an auxiliary or secondary theory of Aristotelian dynamics, put forth initially to explain projectile motion against gravity. It is the intellectual precursor to the concepts of inertia, momentum and acceleration in classical mechanics.<ref>{{cite book | last = Duhem | first = Pierre | contribution = Physics, History of | year = 1913 | title = The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, and History of the Catholic Church | editor-first = Charles G. | editor-last = Herbermann | editor-first2 = Edward A. | editor-last2 = Pace | editor-first3 = Condé B. | editor-last3 = Pallen | editor-first4 = John J. | editor-last4 = Wynne | editor-first5 = Thomas J. | editor-last5 = Shahan | volume = 12 | page = 51 | place = New York | publisher = Encyclopedia Press | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XSQUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51 | access-date = 19 April 2018 | archive-date = 3 January 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140103080018/http://books.google.com/books?id=XSQUAAAAYAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref> The works of John Philoponus inspired [[Galileo Galilei]] ten centuries later.<ref name=Lindberg1992p162>Lindberg, David. (1992) ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dPUBAkIm2lUC&pg=PA162 The Beginnings of Western Science]''. University of Chicago Press. p. 162.</ref><ref>{{Cite book| chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philoponus/| title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy| chapter=John Philoponus| publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University| year=2018| access-date=11 April 2018| archive-date=22 April 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422010906/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philoponus/| url-status=live}}</ref>

====Collapse====
During the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, a number of Greek scholars fled to North Italy in which they fueled the era later commonly known as the "[[Renaissance]]" as they brought with them a great deal of classical learning including an understanding of botany, medicine, and zoology. Byzantium also gave the West important inputs: John Philoponus' criticism of Aristotelian physics, and the works of Dioscorides.<ref>Lindberg, David. (1992). ''The Beginnings of Western Science''. University of Chicago Press. p. 162.</ref>

===Islamic world===
{{Further|Science in the medieval Islamic world|Timeline of science and engineering in the Muslim world}}
[[File:Islamic MedText c1500.jpg|thumb|upright| right | 15th-century manuscript of [[Avicenna]]'s ''[[The Canon of Medicine]]''.]]
This was the period (8th–14th century CE) of the [[Islamic Golden Age]] where commerce thrived, and new ideas and technologies emerged such as the importation of [[papermaking]] from China, which made the copying of manuscripts inexpensive.

====Translations and Hellenization====
The eastward transmission of Greek heritage to Western Asia was a slow and gradual process that spanned over a thousand years, beginning with the Asian conquests of [[Alexander the Great]] in 335 BCE to the [[Timeline of Islamic history|founding of Islam in the 7th century CE]].<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> The birth and expansion of Islam during the 7th century was quickly followed by its [[Hellenization]]. Knowledge of [[Science in classical antiquity|Greek conceptions of the world]] was preserved and absorbed into Islamic theology, law, culture, and commerce, which were aided by the translations of traditional Greek texts and some [[Syriac language|Syriac]] intermediary sources into [[Arabic language|Arabic]] during the 8th–9th century.

====Education and scholarly pursuits====
[[File:Cour mosquee Suleymaniye Istanbul.jpg|thumb|[[Süleymaniye Mosque]]]]
[[Madrasa]]s were centers for many different religious and scientific studies and were the culmination of different institutions such as mosques based around religious studies, housing for out-of-town visitors, and finally educational institutions focused on the natural sciences.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moosa|first=Ebrahim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ei9ZBwAAQBAJ&dq=Madrasa+history&pg=PP1|title=What Is a Madrasa?|date=2015-04-06|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=978-1-4696-2014-5|access-date=25 November 2021|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730040037/https://books.google.com/books?id=ei9ZBwAAQBAJ&dq=Madrasa+history&pg=PP1|url-status=live}}</ref> Unlike Western universities, students at a madrasa would learn from one specific teacher, who would issue a certificate at the completion of their studies called an [[Ijazah]]. An Ijazah differs from a western university degree in many ways one being that it is issued by a single person rather than an institution, and another being that it is not an individual degree declaring adequate knowledge over broad subjects, but rather a license to teach and pass on a very specific set of texts.<ref name="barker2017">{{Cite journal|last=Barker|first=Peter|date=2017-12-15|title=The Social Structure of Islamicate Science|url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/1259|journal=Journal of World Philosophies|volume=2|issue=2|issn=2474-1795|access-date=24 November 2021|archive-date=24 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124005530/https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/jwp/article/view/1259|url-status=live}}</ref> Women were also allowed to attend madrasas, as both students and teachers, something not seen in high western education until the 1800s.<ref name="barker2017" /> Madrasas were more than just academic centers. The [[Süleymaniye Mosque|Suleymaniye Mosque]], for example, was one of the earliest and most well-known madrasas, which was built by [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] in the 16th century.<ref name="architecturecourses2021">{{Cite web|title=Süleymaniye Mosque, Turkey|url=https://www.architecturecourses.org/s%C3%BCleymaniye-mosque-turkey|access-date=2021-11-24|website=architecturecourses.org|archive-date=24 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211124005536/https://www.architecturecourses.org/s%C3%BCleymaniye-mosque-turkey|url-status=live}}</ref> The Suleymaniye Mosque was home to a hospital and medical college, a kitchen, and children's school, as well as serving as a temporary home for travelers.<ref name="architecturecourses2021" />

Higher education at a madrasa (or college) was focused on Islamic law and religious science and students had to engage in self-study for everything else.<ref name="lindberg2007h" /> And despite the occasional theological backlash, many Islamic scholars of science were able to conduct their work in relatively tolerant urban centers (e.g., [[Baghdad]] and [[Cairo]]) and were protected by powerful patrons.<ref name="lindberg2007h" /> They could also travel freely and exchange ideas as there were no political barriers within the unified Islamic state.<ref name="lindberg2007h" /> Islamic science during this time was primarily focused on the correction, extension, articulation, and application of Greek ideas to new problems.<ref name="lindberg2007h" />

====Advancements in mathematics====
Most of the achievements by Islamic scholars during this period were in mathematics.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> [[Mathematics in the medieval Islamic world|Arabic mathematics]] was a direct descendant of Greek and Indian mathematics.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> For instance, what is now known as [[Arabic numerals]] originally came from India, but Muslim mathematicians made several key refinements to the number system, such as the introduction of [[Decimal separator|decimal point]] notation. Mathematicians such as [[Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi]] (c. 780–850) gave his name to the concept of the [[algorithm]], while the term [[algebra]] is derived from ''al-jabr'', the beginning of the title of one of his publications.<ref>[[Gerald J. Toomer|Toomer, Gerald]] (1990). "Al-Khwārizmī, Abu Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Mūsā". In Gillispie, Charles Coulston. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 7. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. {{ISBN|978-0-684-16962-0}}.</ref> Islamic trigonometry continued from the works of Ptolemy's ''[[Almagest]]'' and Indian ''[[Siddhānta Shiromani|Siddhanta]]'', from which they added [[trigonometric functions]], drew up tables, and applied trignometry to spheres and planes. Many of their engineers, instruments makers, and surveyors contributed books in applied mathematics. It was in [[Islamic astronomy|astronomy]] where Islamic mathematicians made their greatest contributions. [[Al-Battani]] (c. 858–929) improved the measurements of [[Hipparchus]], preserved in the translation of [[Ptolemy]]'s ''Hè Megalè Syntaxis'' (''The great treatise'') translated as ''[[Almagest]]''. Al-Battani also improved the precision of the measurement of the precession of the Earth's axis. Corrections were made to Ptolemy's [[geocentric model]] by al-Battani, [[Ibn al-Haytham]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rosen |first=Edward |year=1985 |title=The Dissolution of the Solid Celestial Spheres|journal=Journal of the History of Ideas |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=19–21 |doi=10.2307/2709773|jstor=2709773 }}</ref> [[Averroes]] and the [[Maragheh observatory|Maragha astronomers]] such as [[Nasir al-Din al-Tusi]], [[Mu'ayyad al-Din al-Urdi]] and [[Ibn al-Shatir]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Rabin|first=Sheila|url=http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/stanford/entries/copernicus/index.html|title=Nicolaus Copernicus|journal=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]]|year=2004|access-date=24 June 2012|archive-date=15 July 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715113006/http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/stanford/entries/copernicus/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Saliba |first=George |author-link=George Saliba |year=1994 |title=A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8147-8023-7 |pages=254, 256–257 }}</ref>

Scholars with geometric skills made significant improvements to the earlier classical texts on light and sight by Euclid, Aristotle, and Ptolemy.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> The earliest surviving Arabic treatises were written in the 9th century by [[Al-Kindi|Abū Ishāq al-Kindī]], [[Qusta ibn Luqa|Qustā ibn Lūqā]], and (in fragmentary form) Ahmad ibn Isā. Later in the 11th century, [[Ibn al-Haytham]] (known as Alhazen in the West), a mathematician and astronomer, synthesized a new theory of vision based on the works of his predecessors.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> His new theory included a complete system of geometrical optics, which was set in great detail in his ''[[Book of Optics]]''.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/><ref>[https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hZvL5eYAAAAJ&hl Sameen Ahmed Khan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305131051/http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hZvL5eYAAAAJ&hl |date=5 March 2016 }}, Arab Origins of the Discovery of the Refraction of Light; Roshdi Hifni Rashed (Picture) Awarded the 2007 King Faisal International Prize, Optics & Photonics News (OPN, Logo), Vol. 18, No. 10, pp. 22–23 (October 2007).</ref> His book was translated into Latin and was relied upon as a principal source on the science of optics in Europe until the 17th century.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/>

====Institutionalization of medicine====
The medical sciences were prominently cultivated in the Islamic world.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> The works of Greek medical theories, especially those of Galen, were translated into Arabic and there was an outpouring of medical texts by Islamic physicians, which were aimed at organizing, elaborating, and disseminating classical medical knowledge.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> [[Medical specialty|Medical specialties]] started to emerge, such as those involved in the treatment of eye diseases such as [[cataract]]s. Ibn Sina (known as [[Avicenna]] in the West, c. 980–1037) was a prolific Persian medical encyclopedist<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Nasr|first=Seyyed Hossein|year=2007|title=Avicenna|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9011433/Avicenna|access-date=3 June 2010|archive-date=31 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031092920/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9011433/Avicenna|url-status=live}}</ref> wrote extensively on medicine,<ref name="Jacquart, Danielle 2008">Jacquart, Danielle (2008). "Islamic Pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Theories and Substances". European Review (Cambridge University Press) 16: 219–227.</ref><ref>David W. Tschanz, MSPH, PhD (August 2003). "Arab Roots of European Medicine", Heart Views 4 (2).</ref> with his two most notable works in medicine being the ''Kitāb al-shifāʾ'' ("Book of Healing") and [[The Canon of Medicine]], both of which were used as standard medicinal texts in both the Muslim world and in Europe well into the 17th century. Amongst his many contributions are the discovery of the contagious nature of infectious diseases,<ref name="Jacquart, Danielle 2008"/> and the introduction of clinical pharmacology.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Brater | first1=D. Craig | last2=Daly | first2=Walter J. | year=2000 | title=Clinical pharmacology in the Middle Ages: Principles that presage the 21st century | journal=Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics | volume=67 | issue=5| pages=447–450 [448] | doi=10.1067/mcp.2000.106465 | pmid=10824622| s2cid=45980791 }}</ref> Institutionalization of medicine was another important achievement in the Islamic world. Although hospitals as an institution for the sick emerged in the Byzantium empire, the model of institutionalized medicine for all social classes was extensive in the Islamic empire and was scattered throughout. In addition to treating patients, physicians could teach apprentice physicians, as well write and do research. The discovery of the pulmonary transit of blood in the human body by [[Ibn al-Nafis]] occurred in a hospital setting.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/>

====Decline====
Islamic science began its decline in the 12th–13th century, before the [[Renaissance]] in Europe, due in part to the [[Reconquista|Christian reconquest of Spain]] and the [[Mongol conquests]] in the East in the 11th–13th century. The Mongols [[Siege of Baghdad (1258)|sacked Baghdad]], capital of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]], in 1258, which ended the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid empire]].<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/><ref name="Erica Fraser 1600">Erica Fraser. The Islamic World to 1600, University of Calgary.</ref> Nevertheless, many of the conquerors became patrons of the sciences. [[Hulagu Khan]], for example, who led the siege of Baghdad, became a patron of the [[Maragheh observatory]].<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/> Islamic astronomy continued to flourish into the 16th century.<ref name= "lindberg2007h"/>

===Western Europe===
{{Further|European science in the Middle Ages | Renaissance of the 12th century|Scholasticism|Medieval technology|List of medieval European scientists|Islamic world contributions to Medieval Europe}}
[[File:Roger-bacon-statue.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[Roger Bacon]] at the [[Oxford University Museum of Natural History]]]]
By the eleventh century, most of Europe had become Christian; stronger monarchies emerged; borders were restored; technological developments and agricultural innovations were made, increasing the food supply and population. Classical Greek texts were translated from Arabic and Greek into Latin, stimulating scientific discussion in Western Europe.<ref>Lindberg, David. (1992) ''The Beginnings of Western Science''  University of Chicago Press. p. 204.</ref>

In [[classical antiquity]], Greek and Roman taboos had meant that dissection was usually banned, but in the Middle Ages medical teachers and students at Bologna began to open human bodies, and [[Mondino de Luzzi]] ({{Circa|1275}}–1326) produced the first known anatomy textbook based on human dissection.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=978-0674057418 |last=Numbers |first=Ronald |title=Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion |page=45 |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-674-03327-6 |access-date=12 April 2018 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120190509/https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674057418 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/04/debunking-a-myth/ |title=Debunking a myth |date=7 April 2011 |publisher=Harvard University |access-date=12 April 2018 |archive-date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190728101124/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/04/debunking-a-myth/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

As a result of the [[Pax Mongolica]], Europeans, such as [[Marco Polo]], began to venture further and further east. The written accounts of Polo and his fellow travelers inspired other Western European maritime explorers to search for a direct sea route to Asia, ultimately leading to the [[Age of Discovery]].<ref name= "love2006a">{{cite book | last = Love | first= Ronald S. | year = 2006 | chapter = Historical overview | title = Maritime Exploration in the Age of Discovery, 1415–1800 | pages = 1–8  | location = Westport, Connecticut | publisher = Greenwood | isbn= 978-0313320439}}</ref>

Technological advances were also made, such as the early flight of [[Eilmer of Malmesbury]] (who had studied mathematics in 11th-century England),<ref name="Eilmer">[[William of Malmesbury]], ''[[Gesta Regum Anglorum]] / The history of the English kings'', ed. and trans. R.A.B. Mynors, R.M. Thomson, and M. Winterbottom, 2 vols., Oxford Medieval Texts (1998–99)</ref> and the metallurgical achievements of the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] [[blast furnace]] at [[Laskill]].<ref name="Laskill">R.W. Vernon, G. McDonnell and A. Schmidt, 'An integrated geophysical and analytical appraisal of early iron-working: three case studies' ''Historical Metallurgy'' 31(2) (1998), 72–75 79.</ref><ref name="Derbeyshire">David Derbyshire, ''Henry "Stamped Out Industrial Revolution"'', [[The Daily Telegraph]] (21 June 2002)</ref>

====Medieval universities====
An intellectual revitalization of Western Europe started with the birth of [[Medieval university|medieval universities]] in the 12th century. These urban institutions grew from the informal scholarly activities of learned [[friar]]s who visited [[Monastery|monasteries]], consulted [[Library|libraries]], and conversed with other fellow scholars.<ref name= "gal2021d">{{cite book | last= Gal | first = Ofer | year = 2021 | chapter = Medieval learning | title = The Origins of Modern Science | pages = 101–138 | location = New York, New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-1316649701}}</ref> A friar who became well-known would attract a following of disciples, giving rise to a brotherhood of scholars (or ''collegium'' in Latin). A ''collegium'' might travel to a town or request a monastery to host them. However, if the number of scholars within a ''collegium'' grew too large, they would opt to settle in a town instead.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> As the number of ''collegia'' within a town grew, the ''collegia'' might request that their king grant them a [[charter]] that would convert them into a ''universitas''.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Many universities were chartered during this period, with the first in [[Bologna]] in 1088, followed by [[Paris]] in 1150, [[Oxford]] in 1167, and [[Cambridge]] in 1231.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> The granting of a charter meant that the medieval universities were partially sovereign and independent from local authorities.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Their independence allowed them to conduct themselves and judge their own members based on their own rules. Furthermore, as initially religious institutions, their faculties and students were protected from capital punishment (e.g., [[gallows]]).<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Such independence was a matter of custom, which could, in principle, be revoked by their respective rulers if they felt threatened. Discussions of various subjects or claims at these medieval institutions, no matter how controversial, were done in a formalized way so as to declare such discussions as being within the bounds of a university and therefore protected by the privileges of that institution's sovereignty.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> A claim could be described as ''[[Papal infallibility#Ex cathedra|ex cathedra]]'' (literally "from the chair", used within the context of teaching) or ''[[List of Latin phrases (E)#ex hypothesi|ex hypothesi]]'' (by hypothesis). This meant that the discussions were presented as purely an intellectual exercise that did not require those involved to commit themselves to the truth of a claim or to proselytize. Modern academic concepts and practices such as [[academic freedom]] or freedom of inquiry are remnants of these medieval privileges that were tolerated in the past.<ref name= "gal2021d"/>

The curriculum of these medieval institutions centered on the [[Liberal arts education#History|seven liberal arts]], which were aimed at providing beginning students with the skills for reasoning and scholarly language.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Students would begin their studies starting with the first three liberal arts or ''[[Trivium]]'' (grammar, rhetoric, and logic) followed by the next four liberal arts or ''[[Quadrivium]]'' (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music).<ref name= "gal2021d"/><ref name= "lindberg2007g"/> Those who completed these requirements and received their ''[[Bachelor's degree|baccalaureate]]'' (or [[Bachelor of Arts]]) had the option to join the higher faculty (law, medicine, or theology), which would confer an [[Legum Doctor|LLD]] for a lawyer, an [[Doctor of Medicine|MD]] for a physician, or [[Doctor of Theology|ThD]] for a theologian.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Students who chose to remain in the lower faculty (arts) could work towards a ''[[Magister degree|Magister]]'' (or [[Master's degree|Master's]]) degree and would study three philosophies: metaphysics, ethics, and natural philosophy.<ref name= "gal2021d"/> [[Latin translations of the 12th century|Latin translation]]s of Aristotle's works such as {{lang|la|[[De Anima]]}} (''On the Soul'') and the commentaries on them were required readings. As time passed, the lower faculty was allowed to confer its own doctoral degree called the [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]].<ref name= "gal2021d"/> Many of the Masters were drawn to encyclopedias and had used them as textbooks. But these scholars yearned for the complete original texts of the Ancient Greek philosophers, mathematicians, and physicians such as [[Aristotle]], [[Euclid]], and [[Galen]], which were not available to them at the time. These Ancient Greek texts were to be found in the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic World.<ref name= "gal2021d"/>

====Translations of Greek and Arabic sources====
Contact with the Byzantine Empire,<ref name=Lindberg1992p162/> and with the Islamic world during the [[Reconquista]] and the [[Crusades]], allowed Latin Europe access to scientific [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] texts, including the works of [[Aristotle]], [[Ptolemy]], [[Isidore of Miletus]], [[John Philoponus]], [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]], [[Muhammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī|al-Khwarizmi]], [[Ibn al-Haytham|Alhazen]], [[Avicenna]], and [[Averroes]]. European scholars had access to the translation programs of [[Raymond of Toledo]], who sponsored the 12th century [[Toledo School of Translators]] from Arabic to Latin. Later translators like [[Michael Scotus]] would learn Arabic in order to study these texts directly. The European universities aided materially in the [[Latin translations of the 12th century|translation and propagation of these texts]] and started a new infrastructure which was needed for scientific communities. In fact, European university put many works about the natural world and the study of nature at the center of its curriculum,<ref>Huff, Toby. ''Rise of early modern science'' 2nd ed. pp. 180–181</ref> with the result that the "medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does its modern counterpart and descendent."<ref>Grant, Edward. "Science in the Medieval University", in James M. Kittleson and Pamela J. Transue, ed., ''Rebirth, Reform and Resilience: Universities in Transition, 1300–1700'', Ohio State University Press, 1984, p. 68</ref>

At the beginning of the 13th century, there were reasonably accurate Latin translations of the main works of almost all the intellectually crucial ancient authors, allowing a sound transfer of scientific ideas via both the universities and the monasteries. By then, the natural philosophy in these texts began to be extended by [[Scholasticism|scholastics]] such as [[Robert Grosseteste]], [[Roger Bacon]], [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Duns Scotus]]. Precursors of the modern scientific method, influenced by earlier contributions of the Islamic world, can be seen already in Grosseteste's emphasis on mathematics as a way to understand nature, and in the empirical approach admired by Bacon, particularly in his ''[[Opus Majus]]''. [[Pierre Duhem]]'s thesis is that [[Stephen Tempier]] – the Bishop of Paris – [[Condemnation of 1277]] led to the study of medieval science as a serious discipline, "but no one in the field any longer endorses his view that modern science started in 1277".<ref name="Stanford">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/condemnation/ |title=Condemnation of 1277 |first=Hans |last=Thijssen |encyclopedia=[[Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |date=30 January 2003 |access-date=14 September 2009 |publisher=[[University of Stanford]] |archive-date=11 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170311030803/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/condemnation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, many scholars agree with Duhem's view that the mid-late Middle Ages saw important scientific developments.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rediscovering the Science of the Middle Ages |url=http://biologos.org/blog/rediscovering-the-science-of-the-middle-ages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230301161246/https://biologos.org/articles/rediscovering-the-science-of-the-middle-ages |archive-date=1 March 2023 |access-date=26 October 2014 |publisher=BioLogos}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://icucourses.com/pages/023-a03-the-middle-ages-and-the-birth-of-science|title=023-A03: The Middle Ages and the Birth of Science – International Catholic University|work=International Catholic University|access-date=26 October 2014|archive-date=26 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026061525/http://icucourses.com/pages/023-a03-the-middle-ages-and-the-birth-of-science|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=History: A medieval multiverse|volume=507|issue=7491|pages=161–163|journal=Nature News & Comment|doi=10.1038/507161a|pmid=24627918|year=2014|last1=McLeish|first1=Tom C. B.|author-link1=Tom McLeish|last2=Bower|first2=Richard G.|last3=Tanner |first3=Brian K.|last4=Smithson|first4=Hannah E.|last5=Panti|first5=Cecilia|last6=Lewis|first6=Neil|last7=Gasper|first7=Giles E.M.|url=http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16743/1/16743.pdf|access-date=15 July 2019|archive-date=23 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723044419/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/16743/1/16743.pdf|url-status=live|doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Medieval science====
The first half of the 14th century saw much important scientific work, largely within the framework of [[Scholasticism|scholastic]] commentaries on Aristotle's scientific writings.<ref>Edward Grant, ''The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts'', (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), pp. 127–131.</ref> [[William of Ockham]] emphasized the principle of [[Occam's razor|parsimony]]: natural philosophers should not postulate unnecessary entities, so that motion is not a distinct thing but is only the moving object<ref>Edward Grant, ''A Source Book in Medieval Science'', (Harvard Univ. Press, 1974), p. 232</ref> and an intermediary "sensible species" is not needed to transmit an image of an object to the eye.<ref>David C. Lindberg, ''Theories of Vision from al-Kindi to Kepler'', (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1976), pp. 140–142.</ref> Scholars such as [[Jean Buridan]] and [[Nicole Oresme]] started to reinterpret elements of Aristotle's mechanics. In particular, Buridan developed the theory that impetus was the cause of the motion of projectiles, which was a first step towards the modern concept of [[inertia]].<ref>Edward Grant, ''The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts'', (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), pp. 95–97.</ref> The [[Oxford Calculators]] began to mathematically analyze the [[kinematics]] of motion, making this analysis without considering the causes of motion.<ref>Edward Grant, ''The Foundations of Modern Science in the Middle Ages: Their Religious, Institutional, and Intellectual Contexts'', (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996), pp. 100–103.</ref>

In 1348, the [[Black Death]] and other disasters sealed a sudden end to philosophic and scientific development. Yet, the rediscovery of ancient texts was stimulated by the [[Fall of Constantinople]] in 1453, when many Byzantine scholars sought refuge in the West. Meanwhile, the introduction of printing was to have great effect on European society. The facilitated dissemination of the printed word democratized learning and allowed ideas such as [[algebra]] to propagate more rapidly. These developments paved the way for the [[Scientific Revolution]], where scientific inquiry, halted at the start of the Black Death, resumed.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Renaissance: The 'Rebirth' of Science & Culture|url=https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html|first=Jessie|department=Historical development|last=Szalay|date=2016-06-29|website=LiveScience.com|access-date=2019-07-19|archive-date=27 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027214636/https://www.livescience.com/55230-renaissance.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oK4HTBcdSJsC&pg=PR14|first=Robert S.|last=Gottfried|publisher=Free Press|isbn=978-0-02-912370-6|title=The Black Death: Natural & Human Disaster in Medieval Europe|year=1985|access-date=2019-07-19|page=xiv|archive-date=3 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803141629/https://books.google.com/books?id=oK4HTBcdSJsC&pg=PR14|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Renaissance==
{{Further|Science in the Renaissance | Continuity thesis|Decline of Western alchemy|Natural magic}}

===Revival of learning===
The renewal of learning in Europe began with 12th century [[Scholasticism]]. The [[Northern Renaissance]] showed a decisive shift in focus from Aristotelian natural philosophy to chemistry and the biological sciences (botany, anatomy, and medicine).<ref>[[Allen Debus]], ''Man and Nature in the Renaissance'', (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1978).</ref> Thus modern science in Europe was resumed in a period of great upheaval: the Protestant [[Reformation]] and [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Counter-Reformation]]; the discovery of the Americas by [[Christopher Columbus]]; the [[Fall of Constantinople]]; but also the re-discovery of Aristotle during the Scholastic period presaged large social and political changes. Thus, a suitable environment was created in which it became possible to question scientific doctrine, in much the same way that [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] questioned religious doctrine. The works of Ptolemy (astronomy) and Galen (medicine) were found not always to match everyday observations. Work by [[Vesalius]] on human cadavers found problems with the Galenic view of anatomy.<ref>Precise titles of these landmark books can be found in the collections of the [[Library of Congress]]. A list of these titles can be found in {{harvnb|Bruno|1989}}</ref>

The discovery of [[Cristallo]] contributed to the advancement of science in the period as well with its appearance out of Venice around 1450. The new glass allowed for better spectacles and eventually to the inventions of the [[telescope]] and [[microscope]].

[[Theophrastus]]' work on rocks, ''Peri lithōn'', remained authoritative for millennia: its interpretation of fossils was not overturned until after the Scientific Revolution.

During the [[Italian Renaissance]], [[Niccolò Machiavelli]] established the emphasis of modern political science on direct [[empirical]] [[observation]] of political [[institution]]s and actors. Later, the expansion of the scientific paradigm during the [[the Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] further pushed the study of politics beyond normative determinations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://world101.cfr.org/contemporary-history/prelude-global-era/what-enlightenment-and-how-did-it-transform-politics|title=What Is the Enlightenment and How Did It Transform Politics?|website=World101 from the Council on Foreign Relations|date=17 February 2023 }}</ref> In particular, the study of [[statistics]], to study the subjects of the [[Sovereign state|state]], has been applied to [[Opinion poll|polling]] and [[voting]].

In archaeology, the 15th and 16th centuries saw the rise of [[antiquarian]]s in [[Renaissance Europe]] who were interested in the collection of artifacts.

===Heliocentrism===
[[File:Nikolaus Kopernikus.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Nicolaus Copernicus]]]]

The [[Heliocentrism|heliocentric]] astronomical model of the universe was refined by [[Nicolaus Copernicus]]. Copernicus proposed the idea that the Earth and all heavenly spheres, containing the planets and other objects in the cosmos, rotated around the Sun.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Principe |first=Lawrence M. |title=The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-956741-6 |location=New York, NY |pages=47}}</ref> His heliocentric model also proposed that all stars were fixed and did not rotate on an axis, nor in any motion at all.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Knox |first=Dilwyn |title=Ficino, Copernicus and Bruno on the Motion of the Earth |date=1999 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24331708 |journal=Bruniana & Campanelliana |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=333–366 |jstor=24331708 |issn=1125-3819 |access-date=4 December 2022 |archive-date=4 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204025441/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24331708 |url-status=live }}</ref> His theory proposed the yearly rotation of the Earth and the other heavenly spheres around the Sun and was able to calculate the distances of planets using deferents and epicycles. Although these calculations were not completely accurate, Copernicus was able to understand the distance order of each heavenly sphere. The Copernican heliocentric system was a revival of the hypotheses of [[Aristarchus of Samos]] and [[Seleucus of Seleucia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gingerich |first=Owen |date=1973 |title=From Copernicus to Kepler: Heliocentrism as Model and as Reality |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/986462 |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |volume=117 |issue=6 |pages=513–522 |jstor=986462 |issn=0003-049X}}</ref> Aristarchus of Samos did propose that the Earth rotated around the Sun but did not mention anything about the other heavenly spheres' order, motion, or rotation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neugebauer |first=O. |date=1945 |title=The History of Ancient Astronomy Problems and Methods |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/542323 |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=20–23 |doi=10.1086/370729 |jstor=542323 |s2cid=39274542 |issn=0022-2968|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Seleucus of Seleucia also proposed the rotation of the Earth around the Sun but did not mention anything about the other heavenly spheres. In addition, Seleucus of Seleucia understood that the Moon rotated around the Earth and could be used to explain the tides of the oceans, thus further proving his understanding of the heliocentric idea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carman |first=Christián C. |date=2018 |title=The first Copernican was Copernicus: the difference between Pre-Copernican and Copernican heliocentrism |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45211937 |journal=Archive for History of Exact Sciences |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1007/s00407-017-0198-3 |jstor=45211937 |s2cid=253894214 |issn=0003-9519 |access-date=4 December 2022 |archive-date=4 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204025440/https://www.jstor.org/stable/45211937 |url-status=live |hdl=11336/72174 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Scientific Revolution and birth of New Science==
[[File:Justus Sustermans - Portrait of Galileo Galilei, 1636.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Galileo Galilei]], father of modern science.]]

The [[Scientific Revolution]] of the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe marked a sharp break with the [[natural philosophy]] that had preceded it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Küskü |first=Elif Aslan |date=2022 |title=Examination of Scientific Revolution Medicine on the Human Body / Bilimsel Devrim Tıbbını İnsan Bedeni Üzerinden İncelemek |url=https://www.academia.edu/87500649 |journal=The Legends: Journal of European History Studies |access-date=28 September 2022 |archive-date=12 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112202215/https://www.academia.edu/87500649 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hendrix |first=Scott E. |title=Natural Philosophy or Science in Premodern Epistemic Regimes? The Case of the Astrology of Albert the Great and Galileo Galilei |journal=Teorie Vědy / Theory of Science |year=2011 |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=111–132 |doi=10.46938/tv.2011.72 |s2cid=258069710 |url=http://teorievedy.flu.cas.cz/index.php/tv/issue/view/10 |access-date=20 February 2012 |archive-date=18 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118024030/http://teorievedy.flu.cas.cz/index.php/tv/issue/view/10 |url-status=live |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name= "Principe2011">{{cite book | last= Principe | first= Lawrence M. | year = 2011 | chapter = Introduction | title = Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction | pages = 1–3 | location = New York| publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn= 978-0-199-56741-6}}</ref> The New Science that emerged departed from previous Greek conceptions and traditions,<ref name= "Lindberg1990">{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 1990 | chapter = Conceptions of the Scientific Revolution from Baker to Butterfield: A preliminary sketch | title=Reappraisals of the Scientific Revolution | editor-first1 = David C. | editor-last1 = Lindberg | editor-first2 = Robert S. | editor-last2 = Westman | pages = 1–26 | edition = First | location = Chicago | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-0-521-34262-9}}</ref><ref name= "lindberg2007n">{{cite book | last= Lindberg | first= David C. | year = 2007 | chapter = The legacy of ancient and medieval science | title= The Beginnings of Western Science| pages= 357–368| edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0-226-48205-7}}</ref><ref name= "Stanford Encyclopedia">{{Cite book|url= https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/natphil-ren/|title= The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|last= Del Soldato|first= Eva|date= 2016|publisher= Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|editor-last= Zalta|editor-first= Edward N.|edition= Fall 2016|access-date= 1 June 2018|archive-date= 11 December 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191211205744/https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/natphil-ren/|url-status= live}}</ref><ref name= Grant2007c>{{cite book | last= Grant | first = Edward | year = 2007 | chapter = Transformation of medieval natural philosophy from the early period modern period to the end of the nineteenth century | title= A History of Natural Philosophy | url= https://archive.org/details/historynaturalph00gran | url-access= limited | pages = [https://archive.org/details/historynaturalph00gran/page/n289 274]–322 | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-052-1-68957-1}}</ref> was more mechanistic in its worldview and more integrated with mathematics,<ref name= "lindberg2007n"/><ref name= "gal2021i">{{cite book | last= Gal | first = Ofer | year = 2021 | chapter = The New Science | title = The Origins of Modern Science | pages = 308–349 | location = New York | publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn= 978-1316649701}}</ref><ref name= "bowlermorus2020b">{{cite book | last1 = Bowler | first1 = Peter J. | last2 = Morus | first2 = Iwan Rhys | year = 2020 | chapter = The scientific revolution | title = Making Modern Science | pages = 25–57 | edition = 2nd | location = Chicago | publisher = University of Chicago Press | isbn= 978-0226365763}}</ref> and was obsessed with the acquisition and interpretation of new evidence.<ref> Wootton, David. ''The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution'' (Penguin, 2015). p.136. {{ISBN|0-06-175952-X}}</ref> The Scientific Revolution is a convenient boundary between ancient thought and classical physics. While the [[Periodization|period]] is frequently said to have begun in 1543 with the printings of ''[[De humani corporis fabrica]]'' (''On the Workings of the Human Body'') by [[Andreas Vesalius]] and ''[[De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium|De Revolutionibus]]'' (''On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres'') by [[Nicolaus Copernicus]], the [[SN 1572]] supernova has also been suggested as its beginning.<ref> "Modern science was invented between 1572, when Tycho Brahe saw a nova, or new star, and 1704, when Newton published his Optics..." Wootton, David. ''The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution'' (Penguin, 2015). p.1. {{ISBN|0-06-175952-X}}</ref> The period culminated with the publication of the ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica]]'' in 1687 by [[Isaac Newton]], representative of the unprecedented growth of [[Antiquarian science book|scientific publications]] throughout Europe.

====Planets and orbits====
{{Main|Kepler's laws of planetary motion}}
The heliocentric model revived by [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] was followed by the model of planetary motion given by [[Johannes Kepler]] in the early 17th century, which proposed that the planets follow [[ellipse|elliptical]] orbits, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. In ''[[Astronomia Nova]]'' (''A New Astronomy''), the first two of the [[Kepler's laws of planetary motion|laws of planetary motion]] were shown by the analysis of the orbit of Mars. Kepler introduced the revolutionary concept of planetary orbit. Because of his work astronomical phenomena came to be seen as being governed by physical laws.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Goldstein|first1=Bernard|last2=Hon|first2=Giora|date=2005|title=Kepler's Move from Orbs to Orbits: Documenting a Revolutionary Scientific Concept|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/246602496|journal=Perspectives on Science|volume=13|pages=74–111|doi=10.1162/1063614053714126 |s2cid=57559843 }}</ref>

====Emergence of chemistry====
{{Main|Chemical revolution}}
A decisive moment came when "chemistry" was distinguished from [[alchemy]] by [[Robert Boyle]] in his work ''[[The Sceptical Chymist]]'', in 1661; although the alchemical tradition continued for some time after his work. Other important steps included the gravimetric experimental practices of medical chemists like [[William Cullen]], [[Joseph Black]], [[Torbern Bergman]] and [[Pierre Macquer]] and through the work of [[Antoine Lavoisier]] ("[[List of people considered father or mother of a scientific field|father of modern chemistry]]") on [[oxygen]] and the law of [[conservation of mass]], which refuted [[phlogiston theory]]. Modern chemistry emerged from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries through the material practices and theories promoted by alchemy, medicine, manufacturing and mining.<ref>{{Cite journal |editor=Eddy, Matthew Daniel |editor2=Mauskopf, Seymour |editor3=Newman, William R. |title=Chemical Knowledge in the Early Modern World |journal=Osiris |volume=29 |date=2014 |pages=1–15 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6629576 |last1=Newman |first1=William R. |last2=Mauskopf |first2=Seymour H. |last3=Eddy |first3=Matthew Daniel |pmid=26103744 |doi=10.1086/678110 |s2cid=29035688 |access-date=19 September 2014 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730040038/https://www.academia.edu/6629576 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Florin George Calian |url=http://archive.org/details/AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnThe |title=Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hroncek |first=Susan |date=2017 |title=From Egyptian Science to Victorian Magic: On the Origins of Chemistry in Victorian Histories of Science |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711530 |journal=Victorian Review |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=213–228 |doi=10.1353/vcr.2017.0032 |s2cid=166044943 |issn=1923-3280 |access-date=28 April 2022 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512071829/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/711530 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

====Calculus and Newtonian mechanics====
{{Main|History of calculus|Newton's laws of motion}}
In 1687, Isaac Newton published the ''[[Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica|Principia Mathematica]]'', detailing two comprehensive and successful physical theories: [[Newton's laws of motion]], which led to classical mechanics; and [[Newton's law of universal gravitation]], which describes the fundamental force of gravity.

====Circulatory system====
[[William Harvey]] published ''[[Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus|De Motu Cordis]]'' in 1628, which revealed his conclusions based on his extensive studies of [[vertebrate]] [[circulatory system]]s.<ref name="Schuster 1996">{{cite book |author-last=Schuster |author-first=John A. |year=1996 |orig-date=1990 |editor1-last=Cantor |editor1-first=Geoffrey |editor2-last=Olby |editor2-first=Robert |editor3-last=Christie |editor3-first=John |editor4-last=Hodge |editor4-first=Jonathon |title=Companion to the History of Modern Science |chapter=Scientific Revolution |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6GIPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA217 |location=[[Abingdon, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=217–242 |isbn=978-0415145787 |access-date=27 September 2021 |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927191043/https://books.google.com/books?id=6GIPEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA217 |url-status=live }}</ref> He identified the central role of the [[heart]], [[Artery|arteries]], and [[vein]]s in producing blood movement in a circuit, and failed to find any confirmation of [[Galen]]'s pre-existing notions of heating and cooling functions.<ref>Power, d'Arcey. Life of Harvey. Longmans, Green, & co.</ref> The history of early modern biology and medicine is often told through the search for the seat of the soul.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/|title=Ancient Theories of Soul|last=Stanford|date=2003|website=Plato.Stanford|access-date=2018-07-09|archive-date=7 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807014659/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ancient-soul/|url-status=live}}</ref> Galen in his descriptions of his foundational work in medicine presents the distinctions between arteries, veins, and nerves using the vocabulary of the soul.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Galen on Respiration and the arteries|last=Galen|first=David|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1984|location=UCSC library|page=201}}</ref>

====Scientific societies and journals====
A critical innovation was the creation of permanent scientific societies and their scholarly journals, which dramatically sped the diffusion of new ideas. Typical was the founding of the [[Royal Society]] in London in 1660 and its journal in 1665 the [[Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society|Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society]], the first scientific journal in English.<ref>Meyrick H. Carré, "The Formation of the Royal Society" ''History Today'' (Aug 1960) 10#8 pp 564–571.</ref> 1665 also saw the first journal in French, the [[Journal des sçavans|Journal des ''sçavans'']]. Science drawing on the works{{sfnp|Heilbron|2003|p=741}} of [[Isaac Newton|Newton]], [[Descartes]], [[Blaise Pascal|Pascal]] and [[Gottfried Leibniz|Leibniz]], science was on a path to modern [[mathematics]], [[physics]] and [[technology]] by the time of the generation of [[Benjamin Franklin]] (1706–1790), [[Leonhard Euler]] (1707–1783), [[Mikhail Lomonosov]] (1711–1765) and [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert]] (1717–1783). [[Denis Diderot]]'s ''[[Encyclopédie]]'', published between 1751 and 1772 brought this new understanding to a wider audience. The impact of this process was not limited to science and technology, but affected [[history of philosophy|philosophy]] ([[Immanuel Kant]], [[David Hume]]), [[history of religion|religion]] (the increasingly significant impact of [[Relationship between religion and science|science upon religion]]), and society and politics in general ([[Adam Smith]], [[Voltaire]]).

====Developments in geology====
Geology did not undergo systematic restructuring during the [[Scientific Revolution]] but instead existed as a cloud of isolated, disconnected ideas about rocks, minerals, and landforms long before it became a coherent science. [[Robert Hooke]] formulated a theory of earthquakes, and [[Nicholas Steno]] developed the theory of [[Law of superposition|superposition]] and argued that [[fossils]] were the remains of once-living creatures. Beginning with [[Thomas Burnet (theologian)|Thomas Burnet]]'s ''Sacred Theory of the Earth'' in 1681, natural philosophers began to explore the idea that the Earth had changed over time. Burnet and his contemporaries interpreted Earth's past in terms of events described in the Bible, but their work laid the intellectual foundations for secular interpretations of Earth history.

==Romanticism and Post-Scientific Revolution==
{{see also|Romanticism in science}}
=== Bioelectricity ===
During the late 18th century, researchers such as [[Hugh Williamson]]<ref name="VanderVeer 2011">{{cite journal |last=VanderVeer |first=Joseph B. |title=Hugh Williamson: Physician, Patriot, and Founding Father |journal=Journal of the American Medical Association |volume=306 |issue=1 |date=6 July 2011 |doi=10.1001/jama.2011.933 }}</ref> and [[John Walsh (scientist)|John Walsh]] experimented on the effects of electricity on the human body. Further studies by [[Luigi Galvani]] and [[Alessandro Volta]] established the electrical nature of what Volta called [[galvanism]].<ref name="Edwards 2021">{{cite web |last=Edwards |first=Paul |title=A Correction to the Record of Early Electrophysiology Research on the 250th Anniversary of a Historic Expedition to Île de Ré |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03423498/document |publisher=HAL open-access archive |access-date=6 May 2022 |date=10 November 2021 |id=hal-03423498 |archive-date=6 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506153323/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03423498/document |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Bresadola 367–380">{{cite journal |last=Bresadola |first=Marco |title=Medicine and science in the life of Luigi Galvani |journal=Brain Research Bulletin |date=15 July 1998 |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=367–380 |doi=10.1016/s0361-9230(98)00023-9 |pmid=9739000|s2cid=13035403}}</ref>

Electricity thus became in [[Romanticism]] a multifaceted symbol representing both revolutionary fervor and the creative force of nature, as well as a metaphor for the pervasive power of the [[mind]] and its spiritual connection. Its presence, both literal and figurative, in both scientific experiments and literature, such as Galvani's study of electrical effects on bodies, fueled the Romantic imagination, serving as a [[vital force|vital]] concept bridging the animate and the inanimate, the rational and the spiritual.<ref>{{cite book|last=Haekel|first=Ralf |title=Handbook of British Romanticism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zwE2DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA151|page=151|date=2017 |publisher=Gruyter | isbn=978-3110376692}}</ref>

=== Developments in geology ===
[[File:Anoplotherium 1812 Skeleton Sketch.jpg|thumb|1812 skeletal and muscular reconstruction of ''[[Anoplotherium]] commune'' by Georges Cuvier based on fossil remains from the Paris Basin]]
Modern geology, like modern chemistry, gradually evolved during the 18th and early 19th centuries. [[Benoît de Maillet]] and the [[Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon|Comte de Buffon]] saw the Earth as much older than the 6,000 years envisioned by biblical scholars. [[Jean-Étienne Guettard]] and [[Nicolas Desmarest]] hiked central France and recorded their observations on some of the first geological maps. Aided by chemical experimentation, naturalists such as Scotland's [[John Walker (natural historian)|John Walker]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Matthew Daniel Eddy|title=The Language of Mineralogy: John Walker, Chemistry and the Edinburgh Medical School 1750–1800|date=2008|publisher=Ashgate|url=https://www.academia.edu/1112014|access-date=19 September 2014|archive-date=3 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903230852/http://www.academia.edu/1112014/The_Language_of_Mineralogy_John_Walker_Chemistry_and_the_Edinburgh_Medical_School_1750-1800_2008_|url-status=live}}</ref> Sweden's Torbern Bergman, and Germany's [[Abraham Werner]] created comprehensive classification systems for rocks and minerals—a collective achievement that transformed geology into a cutting edge field by the end of the eighteenth century. These early geologists also proposed a generalized interpretations of Earth history that led [[James Hutton]], [[Georges Cuvier]] and [[Alexandre Brongniart]], following in the steps of [[Nicolas Steno|Steno]], to argue that layers of rock could be dated by the fossils they contained: a principle first applied to the geology of the Paris Basin. The use of [[index fossil]]s became a powerful tool for making geological maps, because it allowed geologists to correlate the rocks in one locality with those of similar age in other, distant localities.

=== Birth of modern economics ===
[[File:AdamSmith.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Adam Smith]] wrote ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]'', the first modern work of economics]]
The basis for [[classical economics]] forms [[Adam Smith]]'s ''[[The Wealth of Nations|An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations]]'', published in 1776. Smith criticized [[mercantilism]], advocating a system of free trade with [[division of labour]]. He postulated an "[[invisible hand]]" that regulated economic systems made up of actors guided only by self-interest. The "invisible hand" mentioned in a lost page in the middle of a chapter in the middle of the "[[Wealth of Nations]]", 1776, advances as Smith's central message.

=== Social science ===
Anthropology can best be understood as an outgrowth of the Age of Enlightenment. It was during this period that Europeans attempted systematically to study human behavior. Traditions of jurisprudence, history, philology and sociology developed during this time and informed the development of the social sciences of which anthropology was a part.

==19th century==
{{Further | 19th century in science }}
The 19th century saw the birth of science as a profession. [[William Whewell]] had coined the term ''scientist'' in 1833,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | access-date=3 March 2008 | url=http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/whewell/ | title=William Whewell | encyclopedia=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy | publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University | date=2000-12-23 | last1=Snyder | first1=Laura J. | archive-date=4 January 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104025611/http://www.science.uva.nl/~seop/entries/whewell/ | url-status=live }}</ref> which soon replaced the older term ''natural philosopher''.

===Developments in physics===
[[File:Painting of Volta by Bertini (photo).jpeg|thumb| right | [[Alessandro Volta]] demonstrates the first [[Electrochemical cell|electrical cell]] to [[Napoleon]] in 1801.]]
In physics, the behavior of electricity and magnetism was studied by [[Giovanni Aldini]], [[Alessandro Volta]], [[Michael Faraday]], [[Georg Ohm]], and others. The experiments, theories and discoveries of [[Michael Faraday]], [[Andre-Marie Ampere]], [[James Clerk Maxwell]], and their contemporaries led to the unification of the two phenomena into a single theory of [[electromagnetism]] as described by [[Maxwell's equations]]. [[Thermodynamics]] led to an understanding of heat and the notion of energy being defined.

===Discovery of Neptune===
In astronomy, the planet Neptune was discovered. Advances in astronomy and in optical systems in the 19th century resulted in the first observation of an [[asteroid]] ([[Ceres (dwarf planet)|1 Ceres]]) in 1801, and the discovery of [[Neptune]] in 1846.

===Developments in mathematics===
In mathematics, the notion of complex numbers finally matured and led to a subsequent analytical theory; they also began the use of [[hypercomplex number]]s. [[Karl Weierstrass]] and others carried out the [[arithmetization of analysis]] for functions of [[Function of a real variable|real]] and [[complex variable]]s. It also saw rise to [[Non-Euclidean geometry|new progress in geometry]] beyond those classical theories of Euclid, after a period of nearly two thousand years. The mathematical science of logic likewise had revolutionary breakthroughs after a similarly long period of stagnation. But the most important step in science at this time were the ideas formulated by the creators of electrical science. Their work changed the face of physics and made possible for new technology to come about such as electric power, electrical telegraphy, the telephone, and radio.

===Developments in chemistry===
[[File:DIMendeleevCab.jpg|thumb|upright| right | [[Dmitri Mendeleev]]]]
In chemistry, [[Dmitri Mendeleev]], following the [[atomic theory]] of [[John Dalton]], created the first [[periodic table]] of [[Chemical element|elements]]. Other highlights include the discoveries unveiling the nature of atomic structure and matter, simultaneously with chemistry – and of new kinds of radiation. The theory that all matter is made of atoms, which are the smallest constituents of matter that cannot be broken down without losing the basic chemical and physical properties of that matter, was provided by [[John Dalton]] in 1803, although the question took a hundred years to settle as proven. Dalton also formulated the law of mass relationships. In 1869, [[Dmitri Mendeleev]] composed his [[periodic table]] of elements on the basis of Dalton's discoveries. The synthesis of [[urea]] by [[Friedrich Wöhler]] opened a new research field, [[organic chemistry]], and by the end of the 19th century, scientists were able to synthesize hundreds of organic compounds. The later part of the 19th century saw the exploitation of the Earth's petrochemicals, after the exhaustion of the oil supply from [[whaling]]. By the 20th century, systematic production of refined materials provided a ready supply of products which provided not only energy, but also synthetic materials for clothing, medicine, and everyday disposable resources. Application of the techniques of organic chemistry to living organisms resulted in [[physiological chemistry]], the precursor to [[biochemistry]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=History of biochemistry|first1=Parduman|last1=Singh|first2=H. S.|last2=Batra|first3=Manisha|last3=Naithani|date=6 January 2004|journal=Bulletin of the Indian Institute of History of Medicine (Hyderabad)|volume=34|issue=1|pages=75–86|pmid=17152615}}</ref>

===Age of the Earth===
Over the first half of the 19th century, geologists such as [[Charles Lyell]], [[Adam Sedgwick]], and [[Roderick Murchison]] applied the new technique to rocks throughout Europe and eastern North America, setting the stage for more detailed, government-funded mapping projects in later decades. Midway through the 19th century, the focus of geology shifted from description and classification to attempts to understand ''how'' the surface of the Earth had changed. The first comprehensive theories of mountain building were proposed during this period, as were the first modern theories of earthquakes and volcanoes. [[Louis Agassiz]] and others established the reality of continent-covering [[ice age]]s, and "fluvialists" like [[Andrew Crombie Ramsay]] argued that river valleys were formed, over millions of years by the rivers that flow through them. After the discovery of [[radioactivity]], [[radiometric dating]] methods were developed, starting in the 20th century. [[Alfred Wegener]]'s theory of "continental drift" was widely dismissed when he proposed it in the 1910s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/worldgeography/chapter/chapter-3/|title=Chapter 3 Planet earth and Plate tectonics|first=R. Adam|last=Dastrup|via=pressbooks.howardcc.edu}}</ref> but new data gathered in the 1950s and 1960s led to the theory of [[plate tectonics]], which provided a plausible mechanism for it. Plate tectonics also provided a unified explanation for a wide range of seemingly unrelated geological phenomena. Since the 1960s it has served as the unifying principle in geology.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/plate-tectonics|title=Plate Tectonics|website=education.nationalgeographic.org}}</ref>

===Evolution and inheritance===
[[File:Darwin tree.png|upright|thumb|right|In mid-July 1837 [[Charles Darwin]] started his "B" notebook on the ''Transmutation of Species'', and on page 36 wrote "I think" above his first [[Tree of life (biology)|evolutionary tree]].]]
Perhaps the most prominent, controversial, and far-reaching theory in all of science has been the theory of [[evolution]] by [[natural selection]], which was independently formulated by [[Charles Darwin]] and [[Alfred Russel Wallace|Alfred Wallace]]. It was described in detail in Darwin's book ''[[The Origin of Species]]'', which was published in 1859. In it, Darwin proposed that the features of all living things, including humans, were shaped by natural processes over long periods of time. The theory of evolution in its current form affects almost all areas of biology.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dobzhansky |first1=Theodosius |year=1964 |title=Biology, Molecular and Organismic |url=http://people.ibest.uidaho.edu/~bree/courses/1_Dobzhansky_1964.pdf |journal=American Zoologist |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=443–452 |doi=10.1093/icb/4.4.443 |pmid=14223586 |access-date=5 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220935/http://people.ibest.uidaho.edu/~bree/courses/1_Dobzhansky_1964.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead |doi-access=free}}</ref> Implications of evolution on fields outside of pure science have led to both [[Social effect of evolutionary theory|opposition and support]] from different parts of society, and profoundly influenced the popular understanding of "man's place in the universe". Separately, [[Gregor Mendel]] formulated the principles of inheritance in 1866, which became the basis of modern [[genetics]].

===Germ theory===
Another important landmark in medicine and biology were the successful efforts to prove the [[germ theory of disease]]. Following this, [[Louis Pasteur]] made the first [[vaccine]] against [[rabies]], and also made many discoveries in the field of chemistry, including the [[optical isomerism|asymmetry of crystals]]. In 1847, Hungarian physician [[Ignaz Semmelweis|Ignác Fülöp Semmelweis]] dramatically reduced the occurrence of [[puerperal fever]] by simply requiring physicians to wash their hands before attending to women in childbirth. This discovery predated the [[germ theory of disease]]. However, Semmelweis' findings were not appreciated by his contemporaries and handwashing came into use only with discoveries by British surgeon [[Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister|Joseph Lister]], who in 1865 proved the principles of [[antisepsis]]. Lister's work was based on the important findings by French biologist [[Louis Pasteur]]. Pasteur was able to link microorganisms with disease, revolutionizing medicine. He also devised one of the most important methods in [[preventive medicine]], when in 1880 he produced a [[vaccine]] against [[rabies]]. Pasteur invented the process of [[pasteurization]], to help prevent the spread of disease through milk and other foods.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Campbell | first1=Neil A. | first2=Brad | last2=Williamson | first3=Robin J. | last3=Heyden | title=Biology: Exploring Life | publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall | year=2006 | url=http://www.phschool.com/el_marketing.html | isbn=978-0-13-250882-7 | oclc=75299209 | access-date=9 September 2008 | archive-date=2 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102041816/http://www.phschool.com/el_marketing.html | url-status=live }}{{page needed|date=April 2018}}</ref>

===Schools of economics===
[[Karl Marx]] developed an alternative economic theory, called [[Marxian economics]]. Marxian economics is based on the [[labor theory of value]] and assumes the value of good to be based on the amount of labor required to produce it. Under this axiom, [[capitalism]] was based on employers not paying the full value of workers labor to create profit. The [[Austrian School]] responded to Marxian economics by viewing [[entrepreneurship]] as driving force of economic development. This replaced the labor theory of value by a system of [[supply and demand]].

===Founding of psychology===
Psychology as a scientific enterprise that was independent from philosophy began in 1879 when [[Wilhelm Wundt]] founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research (in [[Leipzig]]). Other important early contributors to the field include [[Hermann Ebbinghaus]] (a pioneer in memory studies), [[Ivan Pavlov]] (who discovered [[classical conditioning]]), [[William James]], and [[Sigmund Freud]]. Freud's influence has been enormous, though more as cultural icon than a force in scientific psychology.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

===Modern sociology===
Modern sociology emerged in the early 19th century as the academic response to the modernization of the world. Among many early sociologists (e.g., [[Émile Durkheim]]), the aim of sociology was in [[Structural functionalism|structuralism]], understanding the cohesion of social groups, and developing an "antidote" to social disintegration. [[Max Weber]] was concerned with the modernization of society through the concept of [[rationalization (sociology)|rationalization]], which he believed would trap individuals in an "iron cage" of rational thought. Some sociologists, including [[Georg Simmel]] and [[W. E. B. Du Bois]], used more [[microsociology|microsociological]], qualitative analyses. This microlevel approach played an important role in American sociology, with the theories of [[George Herbert Mead]] and his student [[Herbert Blumer]] resulting in the creation of the [[symbolic interactionism]] approach to sociology. In particular, just [[Auguste Comte]], illustrated with his work the transition from a theological to a metaphysical stage and, from this, to a positive stage. Comte took care of the classification of the sciences as well as a transit of humanity towards a situation of progress attributable to a re-examination of nature according to the affirmation of 'sociality' as the basis of the scientifically interpreted society.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Natura, cultura e induzione nell'età delle scienze : fatti e idee del movimento scientifico in Francia e Inghilterra|last=Guglielmo|first=Rinzivillo|isbn=978-88-6812-497-7|location=Roma|pages=79–|oclc=913218837|date = 18 May 2015}}</ref>

===Romanticism===
The [[Romanticism in science|Romantic Movement]] of the early 19th century reshaped science by opening up new pursuits unexpected in the classical approaches of the Enlightenment. The decline of Romanticism occurred because a new movement, [[Positivism]], began to take hold of the ideals of the intellectuals after 1840 and lasted until about 1880. At the same time, the romantic reaction to the Enlightenment produced thinkers such as [[Johann Gottfried Herder]] and later [[Wilhelm Dilthey]] whose work formed the basis for the [[culture]] concept which is central to the discipline. Traditionally, much of the history of the subject was based on [[Colonialism|colonial]] encounters between Western Europe and the rest of the world, and much of 18th- and 19th-century anthropology is now classed as [[scientific racism]]. During the late 19th century, battles over the "study of man" took place between those of an "anthropological" persuasion (relying on [[anthropometry|anthropometrical]] techniques) and those of an "[[ethnology|ethnological]]" persuasion (looking at cultures and traditions), and these distinctions became part of the later divide between [[physical anthropology]] and [[cultural anthropology]], the latter ushered in by the students of [[Franz Boas]].

==20th century==
{{Further | 20th century in science}}
Science advanced dramatically during the 20th century. There were new and radical developments in the [[physical science|physical]] and [[Life sciences|life]] sciences, building on the progress from the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite book | last = Agar | first = Jon | year = 2012 | title = Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond | publisher = Polity Press | location = Cambridge | isbn = 978-0-7456-3469-2}}</ref>

===Theory of relativity and quantum mechanics===
[[File:Albert Einstein (Nobel).png|thumb|upright|right|Einstein's official portrait after receiving the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics]]
The beginning of the 20th century brought the start of a revolution in physics. The long-held theories of Newton were shown not to be correct in all circumstances. Beginning in 1900, [[Max Planck]], [[Albert Einstein]], [[Niels Bohr]] and others developed quantum theories to explain various anomalous experimental results, by introducing discrete energy levels. Not only did [[quantum mechanics]] show that the laws of motion did not hold on small scales, but the theory of [[general relativity]], proposed by Einstein in 1915, showed that the fixed background of [[spacetime]], on which both [[Newtonian mechanics]] and [[special relativity]] depended, could not exist. In 1925, [[Werner Heisenberg]] and [[Erwin Schrödinger]] formulated [[quantum mechanics]], which explained the preceding quantum theories. Currently, general relativity and quantum mechanics are inconsistent with each other, and efforts are underway to unify the two.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/string-theory-about-unravel-180953637/|title=Why String Theory Still Offers Hope We Can Unify Physics|first1=Smithsonian|last1=Magazine|first2=Brian|last2=Greene|website=Smithsonian Magazine}}</ref>

===Big Bang===
The observation by [[Edwin Hubble]] in 1929 that the speed at which galaxies recede positively correlates with their distance, led to the understanding that the universe is expanding, and the formulation of the [[Big Bang]] theory by [[Georges Lemaître]]. [[George Gamow]], [[Ralph Alpher]], and [[Robert Herman]] had calculated that there should be evidence for a [[Big Bang]] in the background temperature of the universe.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Alpher | first1=Ralph A. | last2=Herman | first2= Robert| year =1948 | title=Evolution of the Universe | journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume=162 | issue=4124| pages=774–775 | doi=10.1038/162774b0 | bibcode=1948Natur.162..774A | s2cid=4113488 }}<br />{{cite journal | last1=Gamow | first1=G. | doi=10.1038/162680a0 | title=The Evolution of the Universe | pmid=18893719 | journal=Nature | year=1948 | volume=162 | issue=4122 | pages=680–682 | bibcode=1948Natur.162..680G | s2cid=4793163 }}</ref> In 1964, [[Arno Penzias]] and [[Robert Woodrow Wilson|Robert Wilson]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1978/wilson-lecture.pdf|title=Wilson's 1978 Nobel lecture|website=nobelprize.org|access-date=23 March 2005|archive-date=13 April 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413230649/http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1978/wilson-lecture.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> discovered a 3&nbsp;Kelvin background hiss in their [[Bell Labs]] [[radiotelescope]] (the [[Holmdel Horn Antenna]]), which was evidence for this hypothesis, and formed the basis for a number of results that helped determine the [[age of the universe]].

===Big science===
[[File:Trinity Test Fireball-25ms.jpg|thumb| left | The [[atomic bomb]] ushered in "[[Big Science]]" in physics.]]
In 1938 [[Otto Hahn]] and [[Fritz Strassmann]] [[discovery of nuclear fission|discovered nuclear fission]] with radiochemical methods, and in 1939 [[Lise Meitner]] and [[Otto Robert Frisch]] wrote the first theoretical interpretation of the fission process, which was later improved by [[Niels Bohr]] and [[John A. Wheeler]]. Further developments took place during World War II, which led to the practical application of [[radar]] and the development and use of the [[atomic bomb]]. Around this time, [[Chien-Shiung Wu]] was recruited by the [[Manhattan Project]] to help develop a process for separating uranium metal into U-235 and U-238 isotopes by [[Gaseous diffusion]].<ref>Ronald K. Smeltzer. "Chien-Shiung Wu." Atomic Heritage Foundation, https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/chien-shiung-wu {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190915015223/https://www.atomicheritage.org/profile/chien-shiung-wu |date=15 September 2019 }}. Accessed 26 October 2017.</ref> She was an expert experimentalist in beta decay and weak interaction physics.<ref name="biography.com">Biography.com Editors. "Chien-Shiung Wu." Biography.com, 2 June 2016, https://www.biography.com/people/chien-shiung-wu-053116 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026054240/https://www.biography.com/people/chien-shiung-wu-053116 |date=26 October 2017 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1063/1.2806727 | title=Chien-Shiung Wu | year=1997 | last1=Garwin | first1=Richard L. | last2=Lee | first2=Tsung-Dao | journal=Physics Today | volume=50 | issue=10 | pages=120–122 | doi-access=free }}</ref> Wu designed an experiment (see [[Wu experiment]]) that enabled theoretical physicists [[Tsung-Dao Lee]] and [[Chen-Ning Yang]] to disprove the law of parity experimentally, winning them a Nobel Prize in 1957.<ref name="biography.com"/>

Though the process had begun with the invention of the [[cyclotron]] by [[Ernest O. Lawrence]] in the 1930s, physics in the postwar period entered into a phase of what historians have called "[[Big Science]]", requiring massive machines, budgets, and laboratories in order to test their theories and move into new frontiers. The primary patron of physics became state governments, who recognized that the support of "basic" research could often lead to technologies useful to both military and industrial applications.

===Advances in genetics===
[[File:Template from Crick and Watson’s DNA molecular model, 1953. (9660573227).jpg|thumb|right|Watson and Crick used many aluminium templates like this one, which is the single base [[Adenine]] (A), to build a physical model of DNA in 1953.]]
In the early 20th century, the study of heredity became a major investigation after the rediscovery in 1900 of the laws of inheritance developed by [[Gregor Mendel|Mendel]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Henig |first=Robin Marantz |title=The Monk in the Garden : The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-395-97765-1 |oclc=43648512 |url=https://archive.org/details/monkingardenlost00heni }}</ref> The 20th century also saw the integration of physics and chemistry, with chemical properties explained as the result of the electronic structure of the atom. [[Linus Pauling]]'s book on ''The Nature of the Chemical Bond'' used the principles of quantum mechanics to deduce [[bond angle]]s in ever-more complicated molecules. Pauling's work culminated in the physical modelling of [[DNA]], ''the secret of life'' (in the words of [[Francis Crick]], 1953). In the same year, the [[Miller–Urey experiment]] demonstrated in a simulation of primordial processes, that basic constituents of proteins, simple [[amino acid]]s, could themselves be built up from simpler molecules, kickstarting decades of research into the [[abiogenesis|chemical origins of life]]. By 1953, [[James D. Watson]] and [[Francis Crick]] clarified the basic structure of DNA, the [[genetic material]] for expressing life in all its forms,<ref name=WastonCrick/> building on the work of [[Maurice Wilkins]] and [[Rosalind Franklin]], suggested that the structure of DNA was a double helix. In their famous paper "[[Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids]]"<ref name=WastonCrick>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/171737a0 |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/watsoncrick.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024200745/http://www.nature.com/nature/dna50/watsoncrick.pdf|archive-date=2017-10-24 |title=Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid |year=1953 |last1=Watson |first1=J. D. |last2=Crick |first2=F. H. C. |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=171 |issue=4356 |pages=737–738 |pmid=13054692 |bibcode=1953Natur.171..737W |s2cid=4253007 }}</ref> In the late 20th century, the possibilities of [[genetic engineering]] became practical for the first time, and a massive international effort began in 1990 to map out an entire human [[genome]] (the [[Human Genome Project]]). The discipline of [[ecology]] typically traces its origin to the synthesis of [[evolution|Darwinian evolution]] and [[Humboldtian science|Humboldtian]] [[biogeography]], in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cittadino |first=Eugene |title=Nature as the laboratory: Darwinian plant ecology in the German Empire, 1880-1900 |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52486-5 |location=Cambridge}}</ref> Equally important in the rise of ecology, however, were [[microbiology]] and [[soil science]]—particularly the [[biogeochemical cycle|cycle of life]] concept, prominent in the work of [[Louis Pasteur]] and [[Ferdinand Cohn]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ackert |first=Lloyd T. |date=2007-03-01 |title=The "Cycle of Life" in Ecology: Sergei Vinogradskii's Soil Microbiology, 1885–1940 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-006-9104-6 |journal=Journal of the History of Biology|volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=109–145 |doi=10.1007/s10739-006-9104-6 |s2cid=128410978 |issn=1573-0387|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The word ''ecology'' was coined by [[Ernst Haeckel]], whose particularly holistic view of nature in general (and Darwin's theory in particular) was important in the spread of ecological thinking.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Egerton |first=Frank N. |title=Roots of ecology: antiquity to Haeckel |date=2012 |publisher=University of California press |isbn=978-0-520-27174-6 |location=Berkeley}}</ref> The field of [[ecosystem ecology]] emerged in the Atomic Age with the use of radioisotopes to visualize food webs and by the 1970s ecosystem ecology deeply influenced global environmental management.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Laura J. |title=[[Wild by Design]]: The Rise of Ecological Restoration |date=2022 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-97942-0 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>

===Space exploration===
In 1925, [[Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin]] determined that stars were composed mostly of hydrogen and helium.<ref>Erik Gregersen. "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin | American Astronomer." Encyclopædia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cecilia-Payne-Gaposchkin {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008214403/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cecilia-Payne-Gaposchkin |date=8 October 2018 }}.</ref> She was dissuaded by astronomer [[Henry Norris Russell]] from publishing this finding in her PhD thesis because of the widely held belief that stars had the same composition as the Earth.<ref name="newn.cam.ac.uk">Rachael Padman. "Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin (1900–1979)." Newnham College Biographies, 2004, http://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/about/history/biographies/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170325225822/http://www.newn.cam.ac.uk/about/history/biographies/ |date=25 March 2017 }}.</ref> However, four years later, in 1929, [[Henry Norris Russell]] came to the same conclusion through different reasoning and the discovery was eventually accepted.<ref name="newn.cam.ac.uk"/>

In 1987, supernova [[SN 1987A]] was observed by astronomers on Earth both visually, and in a triumph for [[neutrino astronomy]], by the solar neutrino detectors at [[Kamiokande]]. But the solar neutrino flux was [[solar neutrino problem|a fraction of its theoretically expected value]]. This discrepancy forced a change in some values in the [[Standard Model]] for [[particle physics]].

===Neuroscience as a distinct discipline===
The understanding of neurons and the nervous system became increasingly precise and molecular during the 20th century. For example, in 1952, [[Alan Lloyd Hodgkin]] and [[Andrew Huxley]] presented a mathematical model for transmission of electrical signals in neurons of the giant axon of a squid, which they called "[[action potentials]]", and how they are initiated and propagated, known as the [[Hodgkin–Huxley model]]. In 1961–1962, Richard FitzHugh and J. Nagumo simplified Hodgkin–Huxley, in what is called the [[FitzHugh–Nagumo model]]. In 1962, [[Bernard Katz]] modeled [[neurotransmission]] across the space between neurons known as [[synapses]]. Beginning in 1966, Eric Kandel and collaborators examined biochemical changes in neurons associated with learning and memory storage in ''[[Aplysia]]''. In 1981 Catherine Morris and Harold Lecar combined these models in the [[Morris–Lecar model]]. Such increasingly quantitative work gave rise to numerous [[biological neuron model]]s and [[models of neural computation]]. [[Neuroscience]] began to be recognized as a distinct academic discipline in its own right. [[Eric Kandel]] and collaborators have cited [[David Rioch]], [[Francis O. Schmitt]], and [[Stephen Kuffler]] as having played critical roles in establishing the field.<ref name=Rioch>{{Cite journal|last1=Cowan|first1=W.M. |last2=Harter|first2=D.H.|last3=Kandel|first3=E.R.|date=2000|title=The emergence of modern neuroscience: Some implications for neurology and psychiatry|journal=Annual Review of Neuroscience|volume=23|pages=345–346 |doi=10.1146/annurev.neuro.23.1.343|pmid=10845068}}</ref>

===Plate tectonics===
[[File:Wegener Expedition-1912 008.jpg|thumb|right|[[Alfred Wegener]] in Greenland in the winter of 1912–13. He is most remembered as the originator of [[continental drift]] hypothesis by suggesting in 1912 that the [[continent]]s are slowly drifting around the Earth.]]
Geologists' embrace of [[plate tectonics]] became part of a broadening of the field from a study of rocks into a study of the Earth as a planet. Other elements of this transformation include: [[Geophysics|geophysical studies]] of the interior of the Earth, the grouping of geology with [[meteorology]] and [[oceanography]] as one of the "[[earth science]]s", and comparisons of Earth and the solar system's other rocky planets.

===Applications===
In terms of applications, a massive number of new technologies were developed in the 20th century. Technologies such as [[electricity]], the [[incandescent light bulb]], the [[automobile]] and the [[phonograph]], first developed at the end of the 19th century, were perfected and universally deployed. The first car was introduced by Karl Benz in 1885.<ref>American Society of Mechanical Engineers. [https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/karl-benz Karl Benz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128084747/https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/karl-benz |date=28 November 2021 }}.</ref> The first [[airplane]] flight occurred in 1903, and by the end of the century [[airliner]]s flew thousands of miles in a matter of hours. The development of the [[radio]], [[television]] and [[computers]] caused massive changes in the dissemination of information. Advances in biology also led to large increases in food production, as well as the elimination of diseases such as [[polio]] by [[Jonas Salk|Dr. Jonas Salk]]. Gene mapping and gene sequencing, invented by Drs. Mark Skolnik and Walter Gilbert, respectively, are the two technologies that made the [[Human Genome Project]] feasible. Computer science, built upon a foundation of [[theoretical linguistics]], [[discrete mathematics]], and [[electrical engineering]], studies the nature and limits of computation. Subfields include [[Computability theory (computer science)|computability]], [[Computational complexity theory|computational complexity]], [[database]] design, [[computer networking]], artificial intelligence, and the design of [[computer hardware]]. One area in which advances in computing have contributed to more general scientific development is by facilitating large-scale [[Scientific data archiving|archiving of scientific data]]. Contemporary computer science typically distinguishes itself by emphasizing mathematical 'theory' in contrast to the practical emphasis of [[software engineering]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.springboard.com/blog/software-engineering/computer-science-vs-software-engineering/#:~:text=Yes%2C%20there%20is%20a%20difference,emphasizing%20engineering%20principles%20and%20practices|title=Computer Science vs. Software Engineering [Comparison Guide]|date=5 February 2024 }}</ref>

Einstein's paper "On the Quantum Theory of Radiation" outlined the principles of the stimulated emission of photons. This led to the invention of the [[Laser]] (light amplification by the stimulated emission of radiation) and the [[optical amplifier]] which ushered in the [[Information Age]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hecht|first=Jeff|date=10 August 2016|title=The Bandwidth Bottleneck That is Throttling the Internet .|work=Scientific American}}</ref> It is optical amplification that allows [[Fiber-optic network|fiber optic networks]] to transmit the massive capacity of the [[Internet]].

Based on wireless transmission of electromagnetic radiation and global networks of cellular operation, the mobile phone became a primary means to access the internet.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Handley |first1=Lucy |title=Nearly three quarters of the world will use just their smartphones to access the internet by 2025 |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/24/smartphones-72percent-of-people-will-use-only-mobile-for-internet-by-2025.html |access-date=28 September 2022 |work=CNBC |archive-date=28 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928214700/https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/24/smartphones-72percent-of-people-will-use-only-mobile-for-internet-by-2025.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Developments in political science and economics===
In political science during the 20th century, the study of ideology, behaviouralism and international relations led to a multitude of 'pol-sci' subdisciplines including [[rational choice theory]], [[voting theory]], [[game theory]] (also used in economics), [[psephology]], [[political geography]]/[[geopolitics]], [[political anthropology]]/[[political psychology]]/[[political sociology]], political economy, [[policy analysis]], public administration, comparative political analysis and [[peace studies]]/conflict analysis. In economics, [[John Maynard Keynes]] prompted a division between [[microeconomics]] and [[macroeconomics]] in the 1920s. Under [[Keynesian economics]] macroeconomic trends can overwhelm economic choices made by individuals. Governments should promote [[aggregate demand]] for goods as a means to encourage economic expansion. Following World War II, [[Milton Friedman]] created the concept of [[monetarism]]. Monetarism focuses on using the supply and demand of money as a method for controlling economic activity. In the 1970s, monetarism has adapted into [[supply-side economics]] which advocates reducing taxes as a means to increase the amount of money available for economic expansion. Other modern schools of economic thought are [[New Classical economics]] and [[New Keynesian economics]]. New Classical economics was developed in the 1970s, emphasizing solid microeconomics as the basis for macroeconomic growth. New Keynesian economics was created partially in response to New Classical economics. It shows how imperfect competition and market rigidities, means monetary policy has real effects, and enables analysis of different policies.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/jep.32.3.87|title=The State of New Keynesian Economics: A Partial Assessment|first=Jordi|last=Galí|date=1 August 2018|journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives|volume=32|issue=3|pages=87–112|via=CrossRef|doi=10.1257/jep.32.3.87|hdl=10230/35942|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Developments in psychology, sociology, and anthropology===
Psychology in the 20th century saw a rejection of Freud's theories as being too unscientific, and a reaction against [[Edward Titchener]]'s atomistic approach of the mind. This led to the formulation of [[behaviorism]] by [[John B. Watson]], which was popularized by [[B.F. Skinner]]. Behaviorism proposed [[epistemology|epistemologically]] limiting psychological study to overt behavior, since that could be reliably measured. Scientific knowledge of the "mind" was considered too metaphysical, hence impossible to achieve. The final decades of the 20th century have seen the rise of [[cognitive science]], which considers the mind as once again a subject for investigation, using the tools of psychology, [[linguistics]], [[computer science]], philosophy, and [[neurobiology]]. New methods of visualizing the activity of the brain, such as [[PET scan]]s and [[CAT scan]]s, began to exert their influence as well, leading some researchers to investigate the mind by investigating the brain, rather than cognition. These new forms of investigation assume that a wide understanding of the human mind is possible, and that such an understanding may be applied to other research domains, such as [[artificial intelligence]]. Evolutionary theory was applied to behavior and introduced to anthropology and psychology, through the works of [[cultural anthropologist]] [[Napoleon Chagnon]]. Physical anthropology would become [[biological anthropology]], incorporating elements of evolutionary biology.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.21438|title=The new biological anthropology: Bringing Washburn's new physical anthropology into 2010 and beyond-The 2008 AAPA luncheon lecture|first=Agustin|last=Fuentes|date=6 January 2010|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=143|issue=S51|pages=2–12|via=CrossRef|doi=10.1002/ajpa.21438|pmid=21086524 |bibcode=2010AJPA..143S...2F }}</ref>

American sociology in the 1940s and 1950s was dominated largely by [[Talcott Parsons]], who argued that aspects of society that promoted structural integration were therefore "functional". This structural functionalism approach was questioned in the 1960s, when sociologists came to see this approach as merely a justification for inequalities present in the status quo. In reaction, [[conflict theory]] was developed, which was based in part on the philosophies of Karl Marx. Conflict theorists saw society as an arena in which different groups compete for control over resources. Symbolic interactionism also came to be regarded as central to sociological thinking. [[Erving Goffman]] saw social interactions as a stage performance, with individuals preparing "backstage" and attempting to control their audience through [[impression management]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology2ndedition/chapter/chapter-22-social-interaction/ | title=Chapter 22: Social Interaction | date=5 October 2016 | last1=Little | first1=William }}</ref> While these theories are currently prominent in sociological thought, other approaches exist, including [[feminist theory]], [[post-structuralism]], rational choice theory, and [[postmodernism]].

In the mid-20th century, much of the methodologies of earlier anthropological and ethnographical study were reevaluated with an eye towards research ethics, while at the same time the scope of investigation has broadened far beyond the traditional study of "primitive cultures".

==21st century==
[[File:CMS Higgs-event.jpg|thumb|One possible signature of a Higgs boson from a simulated [[proton]]–proton collision. It decays almost immediately into two jets of [[hadron]]s and two [[electron]]s, visible as lines.]]In the early 21st century, some concepts that originated in 20th century physics were proven. On 4 July 2012, physicists working at CERN's [[Large Hadron Collider]] announced that they had discovered a new subatomic particle greatly resembling the [[Higgs boson]],<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/science/cern-physicists-may-have-discovered-higgs-boson-particle.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&ref=science |work=The New York Times |first=Dennis |last=Overbye |title=Physicists Find Particle That Could Be the Higgs Boson |date=4 July 2012 |access-date=7 June 2021 |archive-date=7 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607031642/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/science/cern-physicists-may-have-discovered-higgs-boson-particle.html?pagewanted=3&_r=1&ref=science |url-status=live }}</ref> confirmed as such by the following March.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Luanaigh |first=Cian |date=2013-03-14 |title=New results indicate that new particle is a Higgs boson |url=https://home.web.cern.ch/news/news/physics/new-results-indicate-new-particle-higgs-boson |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020000722/http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2013/03/new-results-indicate-new-particle-higgs-boson |archive-date=2015-10-20 |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=[[CERN]]|type=Press release}}</ref> [[Gravitational wave]]s were first [[First observation of gravitational waves|detected]] on 14 September 2015.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Einstein's gravitational waves found at last |journal=Nature News |url=http://www.nature.com/news/einstein-s-gravitational-waves-found-at-last-1.19361 |date=11 February 2016 |last1=Castelvecchi |first1=Davide |last2=Witze |first2=Alexandra |doi=10.1038/nature.2016.19361 |s2cid=182916902 |access-date=25 May 2016|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>

The Human Genome Project was declared complete in 2003.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Human Genome Project Fact Sheet |url=https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/educational-resources/fact-sheets/human-genome-project |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=genome.gov}}</ref> The [[CRISPR gene editing|CRISPR gene editing technique]] developed in 2012 allowed scientists to precisely and easily modify DNA and led to the development of new medicine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Owens |first=Rebecca |date=2020-10-08 |title=Nobel prize: who gets left out? |url=http://theconversation.com/nobel-prize-who-gets-left-out-147759 |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=The Conversation}}</ref> In 2020, [[xenobot]]s, a new class of living robotics, were invented;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Joshua E. |date=2020-01-13 |title=Team Builds the First Living Robots |url=https://www.uvm.edu/news/story/team-builds-first-living-robots |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=The University of Vermont}}</ref> reproductive capabilities were introduced the following year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Joshua |date=2021-11-29 |title=Team builds first living robots—that can reproduce |url=https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/team-builds-first-living-robots-that-can-reproduce/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=Wyss Institute}}</ref>

[[Positive psychology]] is a branch of psychology founded in 1998 by [[Martin Seligman]] that is concerned with the study of happiness, mental well-being, and positive human functioning, and is a reaction to 20th century psychology's emphasis on mental illness and dysfunction.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gibbon |first=Peter |title=Martin Seligman and the Rise of Positive Psychology |url=https://www.neh.gov/article/martin-seligman-and-rise-positive-psychology |access-date=2024-05-26 |website=The National Endowment for the Humanities}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Science|History of science}}
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[2020s in science and technology]]
* [[Historic recurrence]] 
* [[Historiography of science]]
* [[History and philosophy of science]]
** [[Philosophy of science]]
* [[History of astronomy]]
* [[History of biology]]
* [[History of chemistry]]
* [[Outline of Earth sciences#History of Earth science|History of Earth science]]
* [[History of measurement]]
* [[History of physics]]
* [[History of scholarship]]
** [[Science studies]]
* [[History of technology]]
* [[History of the social sciences]]
* [[History of science policy]]
* [[List of experiments]]
* [[List of multiple discoveries]]
* [[List of Nobel laureates]]
* [[:Category:Scientific societies|List of scientists]]
* [[List of years in science]]
* [[Materialism Controversy]]
* [[Multiple discovery]]
* [[Science tourism]]
* [[Sociology of the history of science]]
* [[List of timelines#Science|Timelines of science]]
** [[Timeline of scientific discoveries]]
** [[Timeline of scientific experiments]]
** [[Timeline of the history of the scientific method]]
* [[Yuasa Phenomenon]] – Migration of center of activity of world science
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite book |last=Bruno |first=Leonard C. |url=https://archive.org/details/landmarksofscien0000brun |title=The Landmarks of Science |year=1989 |publisher=Facts on File |isbn=978-0-8160-2137-6 |author-link=Leonard C. Bruno |url-access=registration}}
* {{Cite book |title=The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-511229-0 |editor-last=Heilbron |editor-first=John L.}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Needham |first1=Joseph |series=[[Science and Civilisation in China]] |last2=Wang |first2=Ling |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1954 |volume=1 |title=Introductory Orientations |author-link=Joseph Needham}}
* {{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |series=[[Science and Civilisation in China]] |date=1986a |volume=3 |title=Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth |location=Taipei |publisher=Caves Books Ltd.}}
* {{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |series=[[Science and Civilisation in China]] |date=1986c |volume=4 |title=Physics and Physical Technology, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering |location=Taipei |publisher=Caves Books Ltd.}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Needham |first1=Joseph |series=[[Science and Civilisation in China]] |last2=Robinson |first2=Kenneth G. |last3=Huang |first3=Jen-Yü |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |volume=7 |title=Science and Chinese society |chapter=General Conclusions and Reflections}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sambursky |first=Shmuel |title=Physical Thought from the Presocratics to the Quantum Physicists: an anthology selected, introduced and edited by Shmuel Sambursky |publisher=Pica Press |year=1974 |isbn=978-0-87663-712-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/physicalthoughtf0000unse/page/584 |page=584}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Agar, Jon (2012) ''Science in the Twentieth Century and Beyond'', Polity Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7456-3469-2}}.
* [[Joseph Agassi|Agassi, Joseph]] (2007) ''Science and Its History: A Reassessment of the Historiography of Science'' (Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 253) Springer. {{ISBN|978-1-4020-5631-4}}.
* {{cite book |author=Boorstin, Daniel|title=The Discoverers : A History of Man's Search to Know His World and Himself |url=https://archive.org/details/discoverers00boor|url-access=registration|year=1983 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-394-40229-1|author-link=Daniel J. Boorstin|oclc=9645583}}
* Bowler, Peter J. (1993) ''The Norton History of the Environmental Sciences''.
* Brock, W.H. (1993) ''The Norton History of Chemistry''.
* [[Bronowski|Bronowski, J.]] (1951) ''The Common Sense of Science'' Heinemann. {{ISBN|978-84-297-1380-0}}. (Includes a description of the history of science in England.)
* Byers, Nina and Gary Williams, ed. (2006) ''Out of the Shadows: Contributions of Twentieth-Century Women to Physics'', [http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=978-0521821971 Cambridge University Press] {{ISBN|978-0-521-82197-1}}
* Herzenberg, Caroline L. (1986). ''Women Scientists from Antiquity to the Present'' Locust Hill Press {{ISBN|978-0-933951-01-3}}
* {{cite book|first=Thomas S. |last=Kuhn| author-link=Thomas S. Kuhn |year=1996|title=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions| publisher=University of Chicago Press| edition=3rd| isbn=978-0-226-45807-6|title-link=The Structure of Scientific Revolutions}}
* [[Deepak Kumar (historian)|Kumar, Deepak]] (2006). ''Science and the Raj: A Study of British India'', 2nd edition. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-568003-4}}
* [[Imre Lakatos|Lakatos, Imre]] (1978). ''History of Science and its Rational Reconstructions'' published in ''The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes: Philosophical Papers Volume 1''. Cambridge University Press
* Levere, Trevor Harvey. (2001) ''Transforming Matter: A History of Chemistry from Alchemy to the Buckyball''
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Lindberg |editor1-first=David C. |editor1-link=David C. Lindberg |editor2-last=Shank |editor2-first=Michael H. |series=The Cambridge History of Science |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=2 |title=Medieval Science |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-521-59448-6 |doi=10.1017/CHO9780511974007}}
* Lipphardt, Veronika/Ludwig, Daniel, [http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/theories-and-methods/knowledge-transfer/veronika-lipphardt-david-ludwig-knowledge-transfer-and-science-transfer?set_language=en&-C= ''Knowledge Transfer and Science Transfer''], [http://www.ieg-ego.eu/ EGO – European History Online], Mainz: [http://www.ieg-mainz.de/likecms/index.php Institute of European History], 2011, retrieved: 8 March 2020 ([https://d-nb.info/1036246817/34 pdf]).
* Margolis, Howard (2002). ''It Started with Copernicus''. [[McGraw-Hill]]. {{ISBN|978-0-07-138507-7}}
* Mayr, Ernst. (1985). ''The Growth of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Inheritance''.
* North, John. (1995). ''The Norton History of Astronomy and Cosmology''.
* Nye, Mary Jo, ed. (2002). ''The Cambridge History of Science, Volume 5: The Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences''
* Park, Katharine, and Lorraine Daston, eds. (2006) ''The Cambridge History of Science, Volume 3: Early Modern Science''
* Porter, Roy, ed. (2003). ''The Cambridge History of Science, Volume 4: The Eighteenth Century''
* [[George Rousseau|Rousseau, George]] and [[Roy Porter]], eds. 1980). ''The Ferment of Knowledge: Studies in the Historiography of Science'' Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-22599-1}}
* Slotten, Hugh Richard, ed. (2014) ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology''.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/what-is-the-history-of-science/ 'What is the History of Science', British Academy]
* [https://www.bshs.org.uk/ British Society for the History of Science]
* {{cite IEP |url-id=s-change |title=Scientific Change}}
* [http://www.crhst.cnrs.fr The CNRS History of Science and Technology Research Center] in Paris (France) {{in lang|fr}}
* [[Henry Smith Williams]], [https://web.archive.org/web/19991006233503/http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/catalogs/bysubject-sci-history.html ''History of Science'', Vols 1–4], online text
* [http://nistdigitalarchives.contentdm.oclc.org/ Digital Archives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)]
* [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/search/collection/astro_early!astro_atlas!color!earththeory!eng_tech!math!nat_hist!physics!philsci/order/title/ad/asc Digital facsimiles of books from the History of Science Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113061229/http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/search/collection/astro_early!astro_atlas!color!earththeory!eng_tech!math!nat_hist!physics!philsci/order/title/ad/asc |date=13 January 2020 }}, Linda Hall Library Digital Collections
* [http://www.dhstweb.org/ Division of History of Science and Technology of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science]
* [https://gigancinauki.pl/ge/ Giants of Science (website of the Institute of National Remembrance)]
* [http://digital.lib.usu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/History_sci History of Science Digital Collection: Utah State University] – Contains primary sources by such major figures in the history of scientific inquiry as Otto Brunfels, Charles Darwin, Erasmus Darwin, Carolus Linnaeus Antony van Leeuwenhoek, Jan Swammerdam, James Sowerby, Andreas Vesalius, and others.
* [http://www.hssonline.org/ History of Science Society ("HSS")] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915192429/https://hssonline.org/ |date=15 September 2020 }}
* [http://www.idtc-iuhps.com/ Inter-Divisional Teaching Commission (IDTC) of the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113061501/http://www.idtc-iuhps.com/ |date=13 January 2020 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120322231834/http://www.aihs-iahs.org/ International Academy of the History of Science]
* [http://ihpst.net/ International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group]
* [http://data.isiscb.org/ IsisCB Explore: History of Science Index] An open access discovery tool
* [http://www.museogalileo.it/ Museo Galileo – Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, Italy]
* [https://www.archives.ucar.edu/ National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Archives]
* [http://nobelprize.org/ The official site of the Nobel Foundation]. Features biographies and info on Nobel laureates
* [http://trailblazing.royalsociety.org The Royal Society, trailblazing science from 1650 to date] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150818210315/http://trailblazing.royalsociety.org/ |date=18 August 2015 }}
* [http://www.vega.org.uk/ The Vega Science Trust] Free to view videos of scientists including Feynman, Perutz, Rotblat, Born and many Nobel Laureates.
* [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73605 A Century of Science in America: with special reference to the American Journal of Science, 1818-1918]

{{History of science}}
{{Science and technology studies}}
{{Social sciences}}
{{World history}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:History of science| ]]
[[Category:Science studies]]